Volunteers pluck rowers out of river

Extra excitement was added to the recent Wine Country Rowing Classic on the Petaluma River hosted by the North Bay Rowing Club when one of the competing boats swiped a piling and overturned.

According to Sgt. Blaine Clark of the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department, the boat was in the main part of the river headed toward the starting line when the crew lost steering control. He said the boat sideswiped a piling and flipped over, dumping its nine-man crew into the water that was 6 to 9 feet deep.

“The water temperature was around 60 degrees, and there was a pretty good wind blowing, so they were cold,” Clark said.

The Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department was notified about the accident about 10 to 15 minutes after the men were dumped into the river, and immediately dispatched its water-rescue boat, arriving a few minutes later.

Clark and Lakeville volunteer Marshal Nau pulled the men out of the water and provided them with much-needed blankets. The boat was righted, and two of the rowers returned to their craft for balance as it was towed to the Foundry Wharf dock where its crew was checked for hypothermia by Petaluma Fire Department paramedics.

According to Clark, the Lakeville craft is the only water rescue craft on the Petaluma River and provides aid to boaters in the river and the Sonoma County portion of San Pablo Bay.

He said the Lakeville boat crew only occasionally has to fish people out of the river or bay, but frequently rescues disabled boats or boaters who have misjudged the depth of the water and found themselves grounded.

Although the Lakeville Department is composed of volunteers, its boat rescue team is trained to the Coast Guard’s rigorous standards and uses the same terminology and techniques.

“We all speak the same language,” is the way Clark put it.