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Bystanders and Sheriff's Helicopter Save 5 After Tomales Bay Boat Capsizes

Officials later released rescue video highlighting the seasonal hazards at the bay’s mouth.

Overview

  • On Oct. 18, a 20-foot fishing boat flipped near a shallow sandbar about a mile south of Tomales Point in rough, erratic waves.
  • Willy and Cameron Vogler launched from Lawson’s Landing and pulled three survivors aboard, including a 6-year-old who had been trapped under the hull, then sped them to Dillon Beach for care.
  • Two other passengers swam to a remote rocky cove where a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office long-line rescuer hoisted them to the helicopter one at a time.
  • All five were taken to local hospitals for treatment, with the child and two adults airlifted after responders found signs of cold-water exposure.
  • Authorities praised the multiagency response and publicized rescue footage; the vessel remains adrift as marine units investigate and warn boaters about the Tomales Bay sandbar.