West Linn man drowns Wednesday after small boat capsizes while crabbing near mouth of Nestucca Bay

Tillamook County Sheriff’s Department

Pacific City, OR – At approximately 10:49 AM Wednesday, Tillamook County Communications District 911 received a call regarding a capsized 12-foot rigid inflatable boat with 2 occupants south of Haystack Rock. The boaters had just finished laying crab pots in the bay and had gone out to the ocean to do some fishing. They had been out in the ocean approximately 10 minutes when they had a sudden motor shift and were capsized by a swell.

The initial caller, a 19-year-old male from SE Portland, was one of the boat’s occupants who was on top of the overturned boat. He was reporting the other occupant, a 73-year-old male from West Linn, was still in the water, 30 feet from his boat, unresponsive, and drifting farther away. The Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, The US Coast Guard, Nestucca Rural Fire, and Adventist Ambulance were dispatched to assist.

At approximately 11:13 the 73-year-old male was located and pulled from the water by the Coast Guard Helicopter. Rescuers immediately began providing lifesaving measures and transported him to Pacific City Airport to awaiting medical crews. Unfortunately, the victim did not survive.

The boat and the 19-year-old male washed up on a sandbar and the helicopter returned and picked him up at 11:41 AM. He was transported to Pacific City Airport where he was examined and released without injuries.

Both individuals had been wearing inflatable life preservers and it is believed a medical condition may have possibly contributed to the initial capsize, as the 73-year-old male had been piloting the boat when he had suddenly jerked the rudder and was unresponsive immediately upon entering the water.

Tillamook Sheriff’s deputies assisted in recovering the boat.

The US Coast Guard was assisted by the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, Nestucca Rural Fire, Adventist Health Ambulance, and Tillamook 911.

Coast Guard helicopter crew hoists 2 from coast of Pacific City, OR

WARRENTON — A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted one person from the water and one person from a sandbar Wednesday after their boat capsized in the surf near the entrance to Nestucca Bay.

A Tillamook County dispatcher contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River at 10:53 a.m. to relay that two people were in distress approximately 2 miles South of Little Haystack Rock. The dispatcher said a man used a cell phone to call 911 after the small recreational boat he and his uncle were crabbing in overturned in the surf.

The nephew was able to swim to a nearby sandbar but reported his uncle was still in the water and in need of help. Both men were wearing life jackets when the boat capsized.

A Sector Columbia River MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew, which was already in flight for training, diverted to help. Coast Guard Stations Tillamook Bay and Depoe Bay also deployed 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crews to assist the men.

Once on scene, the aircrew located and hoisted the man from the water and transported him to Pacific City State Airport where his care was transferred to emergency medical services personnel. The aircrew then returned to the sand bar and hoisted the man who called in the distress. It was later relayed to the Coast Guard that the man hoisted from the water was pronounced dead by a medical examiner.

Local officials have recovered the vessel, secured it to a pier and coordinated with the surviving member’s family to retrieve it.