By Alec Regimbal
SFGate
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. 鈥� A total of six people were rescued by a helicopter across two separate events in the Point Reyes area on Sunday, according to law enforcement officials.
A helicopter unit from the Sonoma County Sheriff鈥檚 Office was dispatched to Tomales Bay on Sunday at 2:35 p.m. after receiving a report of a capsized boat. The helicopter unit, which had just finished a water rescue demonstration at the nearby Bodega Bay Fisherman鈥檚 Festival, arrived in the area just seven minutes after receiving the report, according to an Instagram post from the sheriff鈥檚 office.
The unit spotted the capsized boat in the middle of the bay with two people sitting on the overturned boat鈥檚 hull and two other people clinging to its sides. The helicopter unit then initiated a 鈥渓ong line rescue,鈥� a maneuver that typically involves loading a stranded person into a harness attached to a long rope dangling from the craft, which then carries the stranded person to safety.
The sheriff鈥檚 office said that a paramedic from the helicopter unit sat with the boaters as the rest of the stranded individuals were rescued one by one. The four boaters were then flown to a nearby home where they were met by an ambulance from the Marin County Fire Department. Their condition as of Monday afternoon was unclear.
A video of the rescue included on the Instagram post shows the four boaters being rescued. One of those being airlifted from the water appears to tell the crewman that the group had been stranded in the bay for about 45 minutes.
At about 9 p.m. on Sunday evening , that same helicopter crew rescued two hikers who were trapped on cliffs near Alamere Falls. Anela Kopshever, a park ranger with Point Reyes National Seashore, told SFGATE in an email that the hikers texted 911 after being trapped on the cliffs because of the incoming high tide on the beach below. Kopshever said the helicopter crew flew the hikers, who showed signs of cold exposure but had not sustained any other serious injuries, back to the trailhead.
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