Saturday night, The Coast Guard rescued Oak Harbor, Wash., resident Duane Jones, from a 40-foot sailboat beset by rough weather more than 14 miles off shore of Tillamook Bay.
Jones had reported to the Coast
Guard that he was experiencing severe weather, and because the Tillamook
Bay Bar was closed to all recreational boat traffic and night was approaching,
he did not feel safe staying on his boat and asked to be rescued.
A helicopter crew hoisted him from
the vessel and transferred him to Air Station Astoria by 8 p.m. with no
injuries reported.
In a press release, Petty Officer 1st Class William Whitford, an
operations specialist at Sector Columbia River, said quote “This is our first
major storm of the fall and we want to make sure that all boaters are prepared
for the weather, This guy did the right
thing in letting us know that he was experiencing difficulties and then asking
for help when things got beyond his control.
All boaters need to be prepared for any possibilities, including having
the proper radio equipment on board to call for help if needed” close quote.
As weather permits, Air Station
Astoria crews are planning a future flight to find the abandoned vessel and
ascertain its condition. Any salvage of the vessel will be the owner’s
responsibility.
The Tillamook Bar remains closed this
morning. The
Coast Guard will re-evaluate the bar closure on an ongoing basis and will
re-open the waterway as soon as the offshore weather improves.
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