Boater rescued from sinking sailboat anchored at Alameda marina during storm
By Carlos E. Castañeda
A woman aboard a sinking sailboat anchored in an Alameda marina during a fierce storm was rescued Wednesday morning after the vessel broke free and capsized, authorities said.
The Alameda Fire Department said crews responded to a report of a vessel taking on water near the Encinal Boat Ramp just east of the USS Hornet museum at about 7 a.m. Wednesday. The boat was anchored near the rock wall, nearly capsizing, and the anchor line broke, the Fire Department said.
At the time, the weather in Alameda and other areas near the bay and coast was windy, with gusts of up to 40 mph and periods of rain during an atmospheric river storm. The Bay Area was also under a wind advisory and coastal flood advisory at the time, according to the National Weather Service.
The vessel drifted freely with the swell, colliding with the rock wall and the boat ramp dock, the department said. Firefighters managed to rescue the woman aboard and secure the partially-submerged vessel to the boat ramp.
A fisherman arrived at the dock just as the rescue was happening.
“They just pulled a lady out and put her in the ambulance, but I’m pretty sure that was sinking by the time,” said the fisherman named Ahil, as he gestured toward the submerged vessel. “I was coming in when they, when police and everyone was coming, and I was just getting prepared to go fish.”
Medics took the unidentified boater to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The U.S. Coast Guard and Oakland Fire Department were notified and participated in the rescue, Alameda Fire said.
It was not immediately known if the boat leaked any fuel or oil into the water.
Fire department investigators were trying to determine where the boat was initially docked. A department spokesman said it was not unusual to receive this kind of call, as some people anchor their boats and live in them in the area.
