An outing on Lake Washington turned deadly Wednesday evening when two people apparently drowned after jumping into the water from a small boat to cool off.

A 34-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, both from Seattle, were on the boat along with the man's 18-year-old cousin when the three decided to take a quick swim before heading to shore, according to Lt. Bruce Kroon of the Bellevue Fire Department.

"The boat had begun to drift away and the woman became anxious when the 34-year-old tried to do a rescue drag on her," he said.

The two foundered while the 18-year-old returned to his father's boat, swung it around and tried in vain to throw life jackets to the pair, Kroon said.

Rescue crews from several police and fire agencies continued to search and recovered the bodies about 11 p.m. Neither was wearing a life jacket.

Kroon said the incident began about 6 p.m. when the boat headed for a dock in about the 4600 block of 91st Avenue Northeast on Yarrow Point.

The area is called Cozy Cove, which is a small bay between Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.

The 18-year-old from Hunts Point was behind the wheel of the 19-foot boat, Kroon said. The driver was thought to have tried for several minutes to save the passengers before rescuers were called. The man later went aboard a police boat to help in the search.

Kroon said it appeared the accident happened as the boaters were heading to shore after an afternoon on the water.

"They were just going to call it a day," he said.

So far this year, there have been at least 21 drownings in King County alone. That's three more than were recorded in all of last year, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com

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