A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a couple and their dog after they were stuck in rough seas off the Columbia River bar in Oregon. You can see the Coast Guard’s video of the 4 a.m. rescue below.
The couple, a 55-year-old man and 56-year-old woman, first called the Coast Guard at 2:30 p.m. They were on a 44-foot powerboat with their dog, off the coast of Seaside, and they were worried about crossing the bar to return home. The Coast Guard sent a rescue boat to find them.
In a statement, the Coast Guard said, “The rescue crew determined it was unsafe to tow the vessel across the bar due to stability issues and deteriorating conditions. The crew instructed the boaters to don life jackets and remain offshore until the weather improved.”
At 2:45 the next morning, the couple were still offshore, and another Coast Guard boat went out to help them. But the couple’s boat was rocking in 12-foot waves, and the Coast Guard determined the only way to retrieve them was by a helicopter.
A Jayhawk helicopter found them and at 4:15 a.m. it hoisted the woman up in a rescue basket. The conditions were worsening, so the man and dog jumped in the 48-degree water where a Coast Guard rescue swimmer helped them get into the basket for the hoist.
By 5:45 a.m. everyone was back on land at the Coast Guard’s Columbia River station, where a relative picked up the couple and their dog. The boat was still floating at sea, so the Coast Guard alerted mariners about its last known position. See the video:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/741303/coast-guard-rescues-2-people-1-dog-vessel-off-oregon-coast
