WALDPORT – Jeff Hood of Albany and a friend got an unexpected and unwanted helicopter ride Tuesday night.
Hood was crabbing Tuesday afternoon in Alsea Bay when the motor in his 21-foot Starcraft conked out and wouldn’t restart. He drifted under the Alsea Bay bridge and then became stuck on a sandbar just east of it.
Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue Chief Jamie Mason said firefighters were dispatched about 6 o’clock for a report of a boat with two people stranded on a sand bar. High tide was at 5:09 p.m. and low tide was 10:45 p.m.
Firefighters launched the department’s rescue boat from the Port of Alsea but could not reach the boat because of dropping tide and another sandbar in the way.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and crew were dispatched from North Bend and lowered a radio to the boaters, allowing Mason to call their cell phone. Hood wanted to stay with the boat until high tide returned, saying they had coats and hand warmers.
Worried about a forecast calling for an overnight temperature of 24 degrees, Mason called Hood back bout 9 p.m. and convinced them to leave.
“Our concern was the temperature dropping below freezing … and we didn’t want two hypothermic people out there in the bay,” he said.
The Coast Guard dropped a rescue swimmer to the boat and hoisted Hood and his companion to the helicopter about 9:15 p.m. They were taken to Wakonda Beach State Airport where a COCF&R truck returned them to their vehicle at the port. The helicopter then returned and picked up its swimmer.
Port of Alsea manager Roxie Cuellar said while incidents in the bay aren’t unusual, a rescue involving COCF&R or the Coast Guard only happens two or three times a year.
Hood’s boat drifted out of the bay Tuesday night and Wednesday was stuck on the beach about a mile south of Governor Patterson State Park. On Wednesday afternoon Hood and Oregon State Parks & Recreation beach ranger Doug Sestrich had anchored the boat in the sand and were hauling off fishing and crabbing gear. Hood hired Road & Driveway of Newport to get the boat off the beach Thursday, using a small track hoe and front end loader to lift the boat and haul it to the state park where he could get it on his trailer.
“I’m glad we didn’t stay out there overnight,” Hood told YachatsNews on Wednesday. “It was a good decision to get off the boat.”
