Sonoma County Sheriff’s Press Release

On April 2, 2009 at approximately 3:45 PM two adults and an 18-month-old toddler ran into trouble while returning from a fishing trip. After losing the steering on the 13-foot fiberglass boat, the men tossed an anchor overboard in an attempt to stop from being sucked out to San Pablo Bay with the outgoing tide. The bay was rough due to the high winds in the area and the slough they were in near Skaggs Island was producing white caps that were breaking over the bow of the fishing boat.

37-year-old Sonoma resident Joseph Weber used his cell phone to call for help. The Sheriff’s helicopter, “Henry-1″ launched within minutes, after the crew donned wetsuits. The helicopter arrived within 15 minutes and quickly located the boat, which was stuck about 50-yards from shore and was taking on water. 36-year-old Sonoma resident Dante Armstrong and his 18-month-old daughter were also on board. The child was wearing a life jacket.

Fearing for the safety of the persons on board, Pilot Paul Bradley flew paramedic Scott Freedman and Deputy Wade Borges, who were attached to the end of a 100-foot rope, directly to the boat. While Borges stayed on board the vessel to prepare the adults for rescue, Freedman secured himself and the toddler into a rescue harness and was flown on the end of the line back to a safe spot on shore where he remained with the toddler. Bradley flew back to the boat with an empty rope, where he picked up Borges and Weber, who were now secured in a rescue strap. They were also flown on the end of the rope back to shore. The same procedure was repeated for Armstrong.

The rescue took approximately 8 – 10 minutes, which is exremely fast, but possible with the long line rescue technique used by Henry-1.

The boat sank 5 minutes after the rescue.

CHP arrived in their helicopter and assisted in transporting the boaters to a safe location where they could call for a ride. No one was injured during this event.

Report # 090402-027

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