Coast Guard Rescues 5 from Sailboat off of Yaquina Bay, Oregon

[MrSteve007]

Some good footage and a great outcome for both the crew and the vessel, after the Coast Guard determines the safest course of action is for them to abandon ship and then tow the unmanned vessel to safety.

10’-20’ seas and 35-40 knot winds.

https://coastguardnews.com/coast-gua...st/2019/10/18/

[Don C L]

Good to see it went well for them and they are all safe. That's 10-20 feet? Huh. Maybe I have been underestimating swells all this time.

[MrSteve007]

I could see 10’ seas - in the video they recorded from the flybridge of the Coast Guard 47’ MLB, the hull of the sailboat completely disappears behind the waves. Considering the height from which they were filming, that’s about right.

[Jim Cate]

35-40 knot wind??? where is the spray, where are the breaking wave tops?

And looks more like 5-10 max seas, though that is harder to judge in videos.

But good on them for bringing in the boat as well. That isn't so common... and would be bloody hard if the conditions were as advertised.

A well done job in any case.

Jim

[MrSteve007]

Jim, at least according to the report, they took on the tow at 7:30am 20 miles offshore, then was met up by two other CG boats outside the bar. They decided to transfer the crew, and tow the sailboat across the bar unmanned. They moored up the boat at 5:30pm.

I wouldn’t be surprised if conditions changed over that period of time.

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Good to see it went well for them and they are all safe. That's 10-20 feet? Huh. Maybe I have been underestimating swells all this time.

Mayhap. Mayhap indeed.

[Spot]

The article says they had the boat's crew don survival suits and jump in the water instead of a boat-to-boat transfer. Is that common, or an indicator that the sea state was too chaotic for a direct boat-to-boat transfer situation?

[Snore]

Do comment. Whatever I say will get flamed.

That looks like a 40+ footer. The boat is capable of handling well over 20foot seas.

Must be more to this story....

[a64pilot]

Severity of wave conditions is also tremendously dependent on wave period. 5’ seas like in a bar crossing can be dangerous while big ole 5’ rollers in open ocean a breeze.
If those were 10 to 20 ft seas, then I’ve often sailed in 10 to 20 ft seas and I don’t think I have.

Part of the video shows a power boat, I assume USCG beam on to those seas and very little rolling, and I don’t think anyone would let 50 ish ft power boat go beam on into 20 ft seas, I know I wouldn’t.

But then again I’ve not experienced those apparently huge long period waves that are I guess so common in the Pacific and are what bring such good surfing conditions either.

Remember waves are measured from the backside, so the front side of a wave is often larger than what the wave is actually measured as.

[Don C L]

Well, and I am just going by the video and report, but they are being rolled around pretty well; it's pretty hard to do engine work down below like that. Looks like the jib is damaged or jammed perhaps and there are probably breaking seas near the harbor entrance. I couldn't tell if they had an inner stay for a staysail. So calling for assistance seems reasonable. I have not been in a rescue like that but I am sure I'd rather be picked up from the water than the deck of a boat pitching like like that. The chances of being squished, stabbed or clobbered are way high on the boat...and a boat to boat transfer... waves are soft. Even if one is jumping into an inflatable boat, from high freeboard, if you are trying to aim and slip, or jump at the wrong time, things can go wrong.

[Sailor647]

This was the sea condition according to Windy. The Pacific can be a harsh mistress.

In a conversation on FB, people asked if they were coming back from Hawaii and got caught in a storm or if they didn't have a good handle on the upcoming weather and went out into it. Any ideas?

[senormechanico]

They look like ten footers to me as well. My question is, "What's wrong with the boat?"
Maybe they didn't want to motor straight upwind any more?

[alctel]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

This was the sea condition according to Windy. The Pacific can be a harsh mistress.

In a conversation on FB, people asked if they were coming back from Hawaii and got caught in a storm or if they didn't have a good handle on the upcoming weather and went out into it. Any ideas?

Yeah I would NOT like to be out in that

[Sailor647]

Looks like the conditions are still rough!

https://www.oregonlive.com/environme...lCJxU-MHo--mE8

[Apollo366]

Well, I've been a lot of 20' seas and never realised it!

And to me no white caps & spray says 10-15 k wind too.

Yes I've jumped from boat to boat, but only in very, very calm weather, never even think of trying it in wind & sea.