Early Monday afternoon, May 20th, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call just after noon from a witness reporting a capsized boat in the ocean off Myers Creek in the Pistol River area about seven miles south of Gold Beach. The 911 caller reported seeing one person on board that had been thrown from the boat into the water.
Sheriff’s Deputies, Curry County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue rescue swimmer, Oregon State Troopers, the Gold Beach Fire and Cal-Ore Life Flight responded to the area.
First responders saw the capsized boat about three hundred yards offshore in the breakers and could see a person in the water about one hundred yards offshore struggling to swim against the breaking surf. A Search and Rescue rescue swimmer, two Gold Beach Fire Department rescue swimmers and a State Trooper with a dry suit entered the water and were able to reach the victim who was wearing a life vest.
The rescue swimmers assisted the boat operator, 62-year-old Scott Holland of Gold Beach, back to shore where he was attended to by Cal-Ore Life Flight for possible Hypothermia.
From the time of the original 911 call about the capsizing of the boat until the time Holland was helped out of the water was twenty-one minutes. The fast response was crucial in saving Holland’s life in those treacherous conditions. It was found out later that Holland was attempting to take his eighteen-foot fiberglass boat from Gold Beach to Brookings along the coastline.
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