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Boats, seaplane sink into Idaho lake during winter weather

The reason two boats sank into Lake Coeur d'Alene is still unknown, but likely weather-related.

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — It was a sight to see at the Coeur d'Alene Resort marina on Monday. 

"It's definitely going under," said Jennifer FitzGerald, who came out to check it out for herself. 

A boat, sinking under the surface inside its slip, also made FitzGerald want to check on her own boats.

"Of course there's a lot of talk about what happened on G dock so I wanted to see that but also wanted to check our boats down on D dock," she said.

FitzGerald says in the ten years she's kept her boats at the boardwalk marina, she's never seen a boat capsize while docked, though she has seen it happen elsewhere. 

A spokesperson with the Coeur d'Alene Resort could not tell KREM 2 News any details on the boat or what caused it to go under. 

It wasn't the only boat to go down on Lake Coeur d'Alene during the winter weather, though.

East Side Fire District responded to a sinking houseboat last week; the district tells KREM 2 News the boat has since been floated back up to water level. 

Credit: East Side Fire District
A houseboat capsized Thursday on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

It's also unknown what caused that boat to capsize, but the weight of snow and ice is suspected to be a factor in both incidents. 

"We had lots of storms, then lots of snow and precipitation, so there was some weight. I don't know whether the boat just succumbed to the weight of the snow, ice, wind, everything else we've had," FitzGerald said.

Shane Rogers with No Limits Aviation said high winds early last week also caused a seaplane to partially submerge. The small weather station he has on-site registered winds around 50 miles an hour, coming from a direction they usually don't on the lake. Rogers said the plane has since been pulled out of the water.

Credit: Shane Rogers
A sea plane partially submerged early last week due to high winds, said Shane Rogers with No Limits Aviation.

As for the boat sinking in its slip, it appeared Monday that crews were working to pump out water and right it. 

"It is definitely held up by the lines and whatever buoyancy the boat has," FitzGerald said. "I'm sure they have good insurance."

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