Clearlake >> Authorities say the owner of a boat that overturned on Clear Lake made the right decisions before and during the potentially life threatening incident on Saturday. All 10 passengers were safely rescued.
Everyone was in the water when Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Marine Patrol deputies were dispatched at about 5:15 p.m. to the area of Austin’s Beach in Clearlake for a boat that had capsized, LCSO Lt. Steve Brooks said.
They arrived within five minutes of the dispatch and saw a fiberglass motorboat upside down in the shallow water approximately 100 yards east of Austin’s Beach. They also noticed another boat in the area rescuing the passengers of the capsized boat. They were told that everyone was wearing a life jacket prior to the boat taking on water and the passengers had jumped off the sinking vessel prior to it overturning. The operator of the boat said everyone was safe and no one was injured.
The owner said after launching his boat, he noticed the wind had increased, Brooks reported. He said they cruised around for about an hour before finding calm water for swimming. He said it was starting to get late, so they decided to head back to shore. The wind became stronger and he made sure everyone had their personal flotation vests on. As he drove the boat closer to shore, he started to hit waves which he estimated to be between 3 and 4 feet tall. He noticed passengers seated in the front of the bow were getting wet, so he slowed down and moved them towards the back of the boat. The owner said the waves continued to come over the bow and after seven or eight large waves, his boat started filling with water.
The automatic bilge pump activated, but was unable to keep up with the amount of water coming into the boat. A short time later the boat started to sink and everyone jumped into the water. The boat then turned and capsized.
A witness said he watched as waves started breaking over the bow quickly filling the boat with water. He said the boat started sinking within a couple of minutes after the waves started to break over the bow. A marine patrol deputy said the owner of the boat exercised sound judgement by having all of his passengers wear personal flotation vests. He also consciously decided to operate his boat close to shore, in the event of an accident.
