Three rescued from Tomales Bay after inflatable boat goes down

A 65-year-old San Jose man and two teens became stranded Sunday morning in Tomales Bay offshore from Lawson’s Landing after their inflatable boat deflated and sank, emergency personnel said.

A Coast Guard crew from Doran Beach rescued the trio, who had been in the water about an hour and were approaching hypothermia, officials said.

The subjects had gone out in a motorized inflated boat with crab pots early Sunday morning when the watercraft popped, stranding them about ?250 yards from land, Coast Guard Petty Officer Trevor Armstrong said.

They had no protective clothing or life jackets on as they stood shoulder deep in the 60-degree water awaiting help, he said.

The victims called 911 at about 8:25 a.m., Armstrong said.

The tide was coming in and they were in obvious distress and beginning to suffer from hypothermia, when a Coast Guard crew got to them at about 8:55 a.m., he said.

The Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter, Henry I, arrived moments later, as did two National Park personnel via watercraft, Armstrong said, but the Coast Guard vessel was able to deliver the trio to safely to Lawson’s Landing and into the care of waiting Marin Fire paramedics.

Fire personnel said the group did not require medical treatment. It was not clear what caused the boat to deflate, Armstrong ?said.

You can each Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan?@pressdemocrat.com.