OCEANSIDE (CNS) - Emergency crews came to the rescue today of three men who wound up treading water in the ocean off the coast of northern San Diego County after the boat they were in sank.
The occupants of the 39-foot vessel sent out a mayday after it began taking on water at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the Oceanside Fire Department.
As authorities worked to determine the location of the foundering boat, transmissions from it ceased, and the men who had been aboard it stopped responding to radio calls, the city agency reported.
At that point, personnel with the U.S. Coast Guard then used triangulation to determine the last location of the boat, a spot about six nautical miles northwest of Oceanside Harbor. The federal agency then requested assistance from the OFD Marine Safety Unit, the closest available search-and-rescue resource.
Arriving in the area specified by the Coast Guard, members of the city team spotted the stranded men floating in life jackets, motored over to their position and pulled them aboard the rescue vessel. An onboard paramedic evaluated the trio and determined that they were suffering from exhaustion and mild hypothermia, and the marine-safety crew provided them with water, food and dry clothing.
The rescued men, who declined further medical attention, reported that they had been the only people aboard the boat, according to the fire department. They did have a dog with them, however, and had been unable to find the animal after entering the water.
The marine-safety team searched the ocean and shoreline in the area with help from a Coast Guard helicopter crew but were unable to locate the dog or the foundered boat.
It was not immediately clear what caused the private vessel to sink.
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