SAN FRANCISCO — The Coast Guard received a report of an overdue jet ski with three persons onboard in the vicinity of Pittsburg, Calif., Saturday night.
One of the passenger’s mother contacted the Coast Guard reporting that her son and two friends got underway to watch the sunset Saturday and had been missing for approximately two and a half hours.
Coast Guard Station Rio Vista, Calif., immediately conducted notice to mariners on VHF Channel 16 to notify all mariners in the area to keep a sharp lookout for the crew of the overdue jet ski. Coast Guard response boats were launched from Station Rio Vista and Coast Guard Station Vallejo, Calif., as well as an MH-65 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco. Additionally a Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Marine Unit and helicopter contributed to the search efforts.
Just after midnight Sunday, the jet ski was located by Station Vallejo’s response boat near Spoonbill Creek. All three passengers were recovered, and transported back to the Pittsburg Marina.
“It was fortunate in this case that the persons in distress had lifejackets, and were able to get to shore and be located by our response assets before excessive exposure to the marine environment,” said Capt. Mike Day, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector San Francisco. “This case highlights the need for mariners to have means of communication, both by voice and via visual distress signals, such as flares.”
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