Surfer rescued off Salmon Creek Beach

A surfer struggling to come ashore against a strong current near Salmon Creek Beach was aided by a state parks lifeguard who noticed that the man was in trouble and launched a rescue Wednesday morning, park personnel said.

The 63-year-old Sebastopol man had been trying for about 45 minutes to paddle toward land against a long-shore current that threatened to push him into treacherous rocks on the north end of the beach, they said.

Lifeguard Nate Buck noticed the distressed surfer around 9:30 a.m. while patrolling the coastline from Highway 1. He pulled into an overlook to observe the situation before heading into the water with his rescue board and swim fins that permitted him to navigate through the rocky area with the surfer in tow, he said.

The surfer was brought ashore, unhurt.

'He wasn't panicked,' Buck said. 'He just was fighting it and couldn't figure out how to get in.'

It was a type of rescue lifeguards make fairly regularly, he said.

'It was pretty remarkable because the fog is kind of sitting just off shore out here at the coast, and you can't see,' said Supervising Park Ranger Jeremy Stinson. 'I was observing the rescue and you could barely see Nate and the victim when he got out to him, so it was real good observations from my lifeguard.'

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.