The Coast Guard rescued four people from an overturned boat near the entrance to Yaquina Bay in Newport, Saturday morning, March 19. A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay, pulled the four people, who were not wearing lifejackets, off the hull of the overturned 18-foot aluminum boat and transported them to the nearby Coast Guard station where they were met by emergency medical services, who treated them for minor injuries and transported them to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital. At about 10:40 a.m., a watchstander at Station Yaquina Bay received a relay call from Newport 911 dispatch reporting the overturned boat. An MLB crew immediately launched from the station and rescued the four people by 11 a.m. Another MLB crew and a 25-foot Response Boat-Small crew notified other boaters in the area of the expanding restrictions for the Yaquina Bay entrance. “The Coast Guard advises all mariners, especially recreational boaters, to check current and expected sea and weather conditions before crossing the bar,” said Katie Brown, operations unit, Sector North Bend.”We also remind boaters to wear their lifejackets at all times while underway.” At the time of the incident the entrance to the Yaquina Bay was not restricted to recreational vessels and was experiencing 2 to 4-foot swells with an occasional 6-foot swell. At 12:15 p.m., the restrictions to the entrance to Yaquina Bay was updated to a restricted status for recreational vessels 40-feet and under due to 8-10-foot swells with an occasional 12-foot swells. The overturned boat has not yet been recovered, so mariners are reminded to keep a sharp lookout as they transit the area.
