A man high on methamphetamine was rescued from the frigid waters of Penn Cove Monday afternoon.

The man, 51, stripped down to shorts and socks at the beach below Coupeville Town Park and waded into the water, according to Coupeville Marshal Rick Norrie.

He swam about three-quarters of a mile from the Coupeville Wharf and then starting yelling and waving his hands in the water. This caught the attention of employees from the Port of Coupeville, who called 9-1-1.

Norrie, with the help of a Penn Cove Shellfish boat, and fire department responders plucked the flailing man from the cove. The marshal noted he was in the water for about 45 minutes and was not wearing a life preserver.

“I’ve never seen anyone survive in the water that long,” Norrie said. “He was pretty cold. We had to thaw him out.”

Norrie  added that he recognized the man from a call earlier the same day. The man had admitted to having taken meth and was hallucinating, the officer said.

He was voluntarily taken to Whidbey General Hospital where he later left on his own, eventually ending up in the cove. After being rescued he was taken back to the hospital, this time without a choice.