Naked Petaluma man rescued from Estero Americano

A Petaluma man who ventured out naked Sunday night into the Estero Americano near Bodega Bay was rescued from the south shore after swimming much of the way across and becoming stranded, emergency personnel said Monday.|

A Petaluma man who ventured out naked Sunday night into the Estero Americano near Bodega Bay was rescued from the south shore after swimming much of the way across and becoming stranded, emergency personnel said Monday.

The unidentified man was cold and unable to reach safety on his own, but was otherwise uninjured, State Park Lifeguard Tim Murphy said.

But he was largely incoherent, and it was unclear what his intentions were when he shed his clothes and left his wallet behind, and headed into the brisk water in a 12-foot aluminum boat taken from shore, Murphy and Bodega Bay Fire Capt. Justin Fox said.

The incident occurred after 8 p.m. Sunday when a resident of Estero Lane noticed the empty boat floating in the estuary, authorities said, and found discarded clothing and the wallet on the shoreline at the Sonoma Land Trust’s 127-acre Estero Americano Preserve, about a mile inland from the Pacific Ocean.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department requested a rescue swimmer, and both Murphy and Bodega Bay firefighter Nate Buck, a state park lifeguard, responded.

After 10 minutes of searching, they heard someone yelling from the opposite shore about 100 yards away and found the victim, a man in his 20s, Murphy said.

The man said he has parked a vehicle somewhere on the south side of Bodega Bay and trekked crosscountry to the estero. He said he thought he was at the Point Reyes National Seashore, Murphy said.

He was taken by ambulance to Kaiser Medical Center in Santa Rosa for follow-up assessment and treatment, Fox said.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.