A Coast Guard crew aboard their 47-foot motor lifeboat towed a disabled commercial fishing boat Tuesday night to safety in Yaquina Bay after it became disabled 2.5 miles northwest of Yachats.
The Coast Guard station in North Bend received a report at 12:57 p.m. Tuesday that the 52-foot Pacific Cloud with three people aboard and 2,500 pounds of crab had lost power and was drifting toward the surf.
The Coast Guard’s Newport station launched a motor lifeboat at 1:34 p.m. Tuesday along with a 52-foot heavy weather boat to serve as escort. A rescue helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Station in North Bend diverted to monitor the Pacific Cloud until the lifeboat crew arrived.
The lifeboat towed the Pacific Cloud for five hours, crossing the Yaquina Bay bar and mooring the vessel at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday.
The three crew members aboard the Pacific Cloud reported no injuries, the Coast Guard said in a news release. Records show the boat is owned by Lonie Baldridge of Coos Bay and is based out of Charleston.
Weather at the time of the tow was 28- to 34-mph winds with 14 to 15-foot steep swells and one mile of visibility.
“Timing was everything on this tow, as the swells picked up right before we crossed the bar,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Cooklin, surfman aboard the lifeboat, said in a news release. “The greatest danger is when a break will happen; if the bar is breaking we will not go through it. We train hard and build the confidence to respond to the cases and the challenging weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest …”