Boat 'missing' in the San Juans found this morning: Those onboard didn't know they were missing

After cruising around the San Juan Islands on Tuesday, a family of six decided to stay in a hotel overnight — and had no idea the Coast Guard had launched a search for them and their 20-foot Bayliner.

The boat was reported missing at 11 p.m. Tuesday when the owner's brother contacted the Coast Guard to say three generations of one family were overdue from a day trip to the San Juans.

Coast Guard boats from Bellingham and a helicopter from Port Angeles searched through the night, said Commander Kevin Gavin, the operations officer for the Coast Guard air group in Port Angeles.

Then, just after 7:30 a.m. today, an Orcas Island resident armed with a pair of binoculars spotted a boat in the West Sound that matched the description of the missing vessel, which had been tied up, Gavin said.

The resident who called in the sighting read off numbers painted on the boat and those numbers matched the vessel registered in the owner's name, he said.

Petty Officer Peter Williams said he was able to speak with one of the missing boaters by phone around 8 a.m. and confirmed that everyone who had been on board was OK.

"We have found them. They didn't realize the Coast Guard was even looking for them," said Williams. "They were cruising around the islands, it got late and they decided to stay on Orcas Island so, no harm no foul."

The boat is owned by a Darrington man who is on board with his wife, daughter, her husband and their two children, ages 2 and 4, Gavin said.