Sunday, February 10, 2008

An email from Wayde Dudley

Barb & I witnessed a Coast Guard rescue today at Otter Rock. We were coming back from Lincoln City and 2 miles south of Depot Bay I noticed a Coast Guard "47 footer" headed south at full speed. They only go that fast if it is a mission so I pulled off at Cape Foul Weather. I saw the cutter coming up fast on the point and the CG helo was circling in the area. There was a smoke flare in the water due south of the Otter Rock point. It must have been dropped by the helo because it was stationary in the water due to a weighted tether (I assume). The helo slowly dropped down to near the water surface. It went out of sight due to the cliff but I am sure they dropped a rescue swimmer as we heard a bit later on the scanner that all people were out of the water. Apparently a surfer was in trouble. He must not have needed immediate medical aid as the helo told Newport station to arrange ground transportation at the airport. Interesting event.
Wayde

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