An overturned boat found between Whidbey and Hat islands Monday morning was missing something alarming: passengers.

According to Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard launched a rescue boat from the Seattle station in response to the call from a Good Samaritan, who had spotted the capsized vessel north of the Clinton ferry route. A helicopter from the Port Angeles station also joined the search, as did a boat from the Tulalip Tribes.

It turned out that the 12-foot-long aluminum skiff in peril belonged to a Lake Stevens man. Law enforcement performed a welfare check on the boat’s owner and found him safely at home.

The boat’s owner said he and another passenger took the boat out Sunday evening when it became swamped with water. They attempted to beach the boat on a sandbar near Hat Island. Some nearby jet skiers picked them up. Left overnight, the boat capsized completely and drifted to the spot where it was found the next day.

Strohmaier said he did not have any information about what became of the boat after Monday. He recommended that boaters always carry a communication device of some sort to hail either other boaters or the Coast Guard when in danger.