Coast Guard Responds To Report Of Capsized Boat Carrying 3 Near Fort Ross
FORT ROSS (CBS SF) -- Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard station in Bodega Bay responded Tuesday afternoon to a report of a capsized vessel south of Fort Ross.
A man onshore reported seeing a capsized vessel near Fort Ross around 1 p.m., Petty Officer Frank Carpenter said.
The Coast Guard searched the area with a 47-foot motor lifeboat for about an hour but found no sign of the vessel or any debris, Carpenter said. A crew with Sonoma County sheriff's helicopter Henry-1 also searched the area, he said.
Coast Guard crews also responded Monday to a distress call south of Fort Ross.
Coast Guard Sector San Francisco received a distress call that was relayed via 911 from the California Highway Patrol around 11:20 a.m. Monday. The vessel had no propulsion because of a battery problem about a mile offshore, according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard's Bodega Bay station launched a rescue boat and the San Francisco station launched a helicopter. The Bodega Bay crew towed the vessel to Bodega Bay.
The three people on board the boat, one of them from Sacramento, had left Bodega Bay in the morning to fish, Carpenter said.
The vessel did not have visual distress signaling devices or other means of communication besides a cellphone onboard, Carpenter said.
Cmdr. Matt Thompson, search and rescue coordinator for Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, said boaters should have a properly operating VHF-FM radio on board and monitor channel 16 for safety advisories and assistance.
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