25-05-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
8 passengers rescued from capsizing sailboat in San Francisco Bay
Eight people were rescued from a capsizing sailboat on the San Francisco Bay Saturday afternoon, firefighters said.
The San Francisco Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a distress call around 2 p.m. near the Marina Green, the fire department said. Rescuers found nine people aboard a sailboat that was taking on water, firefighters said, and rescued and took to shore eight of the people onboard.
The boat's captain, the fire department said in a social media post, 'did not want to take our suggestion to be rescinded and stayed on the boat waiting for a tow into shore.'
The fire department said that the passengers were wearing life jackets and there were no injuries.
'The SFFD strongly discouraged people putting themselves in danger,' the fire department said.
The boat, the Sea Scout Ship Viking, is one of the vessels belonging to the San Francisco Sea Scouts, an organization that teaches youth sailing and seamanship skills, according to the group's website.
The SSS Viking is one of the organization's various sailing clubs, marketed for girls and women between the ages of 14 and 21, the website said. The SF Sea Scouts is supported by the San Francisco Sailing Whaleboat Association, a nonprofit organization.
'All of our youth members were at California State University Maritime, spending Memorial Day Weekend competing in a Sea Scout Regatta,' the SF Sea Scouts told NBC Bay Area in a statement.
The group said that the crew was taken by other boats, while the boat and its captain were towed back to shore by a towing company.
