Willy Vogler thought he had a chance of saving the kayaker who went missing in Tomales Bay last Friday night. After he saw the man’s blinking headlamp, he launched his Boston Whaler and sped off to find him.
The light was just above the water. The kayaker had apparently capsized, and he seemed to be sending a distress signal by flashing the light. “It was definitely someone in trouble,” Mr. Vogler said. “We quickly went to get our boat.”
Their search proved unsuccessful.
Rescuers from Marin and Sonoma Counties, the United States Coast Guard and the National Park Service spent two days searching with two helicopters and several rescue boats.
The kayaker, who was not wearing a lifejacket, had been reported missing at around 6:30 p.m. He is presumed to be dead. At the request of his family, authorities have not yet released his name.
The man went missing near Sand Point, where the bay meets the Pacific Ocean, at a spot where the tides and currents can be treacherous, Battalion Chief Todd Overshiner of the Marin County Fire Department said. “It can be very dangerous for anyone in a kayak—or any kind of boat,” he said. “It’s tragic that something as simple as a lifejacket may have saved his life.”
The man had come for the weekend to go crabbing, and was going out to check on pots he had set earlier when he went missing. He launched his kayak near Lawson’s Landing, the campground operated by Mr. Vogler’s family. Soon after, a friend reported him missing.
Mr. Vogler said the winds were blowing at about 20 miles per hour, and the water was just over 50 degrees. There were whitecaps on Tomales Bay and 6-foot waves in the ocean.
In 50-degree water, people generally lose consciousness within two hours and are unlikely to survive beyond six. Mr. Vogler recommends that kayakers in the area wear a lifejacket and a wetsuit.
Mr. Vogler and his son, Cameron, noticed the light as they were closing their store. “On any given weekend, we see kayakers go by, some of them with headlamps,” he said. “But when we saw the light flashing this time, we thought it was strange.”
He usually keeps his 16-foot Boston Whaler at another location. Luckily, last Friday, it was nearby. Mr. Vogler set off and found the headlamp, but this time, it was floating just below the surface.
In December, Mr. Vogler helped rescue another crab fisherman whose boat had overturned in the same area. He thought this would be his second rescue.
“I thought I had found him,” Mr. Vogler said. “It was an emotional rollercoaster.”