On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man off Ocean Beach but were unable to find the man’s sailing companion after an extensive search. He is presumed dead.
The Examiner reports that “the two-man crew of the 43-foot Tugboat Richardson Bay had been on their way to retrieve a lost skiff in Pacifica when the boat began taking on water about a half-mile offshore at about 2pm.”
One of the men, age 53, grabbed a life ring and jumped into the water as the tugboat sank. He was helped by Jeff Spiller, a kitesurfer who managed to help him stay above water until the Coast Guard arrived to pick him up.
The other man put on a life jacket and instead opted to jump into the tugboat’s Zodiac-like craft. The boat was discovered overturned and the coast guard “had three boats and a helicopter searching a 44-square-mile area for about 8-and-a-half hours, but finally called off the search at 12:03 a.m. Sunday,” according to the Examiner.
The Ocean Beach Bulletin spoke to one of the kitesurfers, Paolo Frediani, who was in the water during the rescue. He and fellow surfer Jeff Spiller spotted the Zodiac boat after hearing the Coast Guard helicopter overhead:
When they reached the boat, Frediani said, a man inside waved them off and told them to go after his fellow boater, who was in the water. Rescuers found the man in the water clinging to a flotation ring, but when they went for the man in the boat, he was missing.
From the OBB account, it sounds like both men got into the Zodiac but got separated in the rough water. Fire department personnel reported seeinga large wave hit the inflatable Zodiac during the rescue.
Police later found the boat, noticeably deflated, and a life jacket after they washed ashore near Lawton Street. The missing man has not been identified, but the Examiner reported that he was 52 years old and from San Anselmo.
The survivor was taken to Marin General Hospital to be treated for mild hypothermia and shock.
Sarah B.
After reading this article and the OBB article it is clear that without the selfless acts of the kite surfers there would have been two victims. If the man who is missing was an experienced sailor, he would have known how perilous his situation was on the unpowered raft. Yet he refused help to send the kite surfers for his friend and is now most likely dead. This is a tragedy that also shows people willing to risk their lives to save others in danger. God bless them all.