Sailboat washes up on Doran Beach, skipper rescued

A sailor passing the night in Bodega Bay on his way south to Los Angeles failed to set his anchor properly Friday night and awoke to find his boat foundering in the waves off Doran Beach, emergency personnel said Saturday.

The unidentified sailor issued a distress call around 12:10 a.m. Saturday as the waves were pushing him closer to shore, drawing the attention of the Bodega Bay Fire Department, which mobilized a rescue boat, firefighters said.

The unidentified man, who had set sail in Washington state for his solo voyage, said he had let down his anchor quite a ways offshore and didn’t realize it hadn’t set until it was too late, fire Capt. Justin Fox said.

Fire personnel tried to tow the sailboat back into open water, but the keel had dug into the sand and wouldn’t budge, Fox said.

The owner refused to leave his boat until waves pushed it onto its side and water was coming over the top, firefighters said. ?The skipper finally surrendered and a rescue swimmer, Nate Buck, who also is a state park lifeguard, helped the unidentified man get to shore.

“The guy was pretty cold,” firefighter Ray Hill said. “He’d been washed up pretty good.”

Paramedics determined he was uninjured and the man declined further medical attention, Fox said.

Sheriff’s deputies helped him find a motel for the night in Petaluma, Fox said.

The boat, about a 25-footer, remained beached on the south end of Doran Beach on Saturday morning, with the tide out, emergency personnel said.

The rudder had broken off. “Other than that it’s in pretty good shape,” Fox said.