MANZANITA, Ore. — The Coast Guard rescued two people from the surf zone at the mouth of the Nehalem River after their boat capsized in Nehalem Bay, Sunday morning.
The two men were rescued by a Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay boatcrew aboard a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and taken back to Station Tillamook Bay, located in Garibaldi, where the survivors declined emergency medical services.
A Coast Guard boatcrew received a call for help on VHF-FM channel 22 at 7:35 a.m., but no further communication was received, so the already underway boatcrew immediately turned around and started searching the area for any signs of distress. A second call came in to the boatcrew from a witness stating there was a capsized vessel at the mouth of the Nehalem River.
With the additional information from the second call, the MLB boatcrew was able to locate and rescue the two survivors at 7:55 a.m.
“These two individuals are alive today because they were wearing their lifejackets,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Sheppard, coxswain of the rescue boat. “We saw them go under the water and resurface several times as we came alongside them to pull them aboard.”
The air and water temperature at the time of the rescue was 48 degrees and 59 degrees.
