9 Rescued During High Wind, Surf Conditions On Tomales Bay

TOMALES BAY (CBS SF) -- Marin County authorities rescued nine people during high wind and surf conditions off the Sacramento Landing on Tomales Bay Sunday, county fire officials said.

Four kayakers and a dog were rescued from 56-degree water by the Marin County Fire Department at 12:04 p.m. Sunday. The kayakers and dog were dumped into the water about a half-hour earlier by 4-foot waves whipped by winds of more than 30 mph.

They were pulled into a fire department's single-person watercraft launched from the Point Reyes Fire Station and taken to Nick's Cove resort and restaurant in Marshall on the east side of the bay, Fire Battalion Chief Bret McTigue said.

A short time later, five people were rescued when their aluminum boat was capsized by high waves about two miles north of Sacramento Landing.

A National Park Service patrol boat and a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew pulled four people from the water at 12:14 p.m. and a firefighter picked up one other person.

Seven of the nine people were wearing life jackets. Two of the kayakers were not, McTigue said.

The staff at Nick's Cove provided food, dry clothing, showers and shelter for the nine people, who were released without hospitalization, according to Battalion Chief Jeremey Pierce, who coordinated the rescues by Battalion Engineers Matt Chan and Darrell Galli.

The Marin County Fire Department's rescue watercraft program, now in its second year, saved 25 stranded people over its first 12 months. The department uses six rescue watercraft in the program that has trained 225 personnel.

"Our coast has become the backyard of the Bay Area and beyond.  Visitors and those recreating need to understand the dangers this beautiful coast presents," Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber said in a statement.

"I'm very proud of the firefighters who have worked tirelessly to create a program that allows us to perform these dramatic rescues," Weber said.

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