320-Pound Man Is Towed by Rescuers
A Coast Guard rescue team had to rely on ingenuity in the rescue of a large man who fell into the water while trying to untie a boat from a dock at Rio Vista, the Coast Guard reported Sunday.
The victim was too heavy for the crew of a 21-foot Coast Guard boat to lift him into the vessel, so they had to tow him to safety.
The rescue boat from the Rio Vista Coast Guard Station in the Sacramento River Delta was on a training mission last Thursday when crew members heard cries for help. Thrashing about in the drink was a middle-aged man, clinging to a small boat about 300 yards from the ramp, the Coast Guard said.
The three-man crew tried in vain to lift the 320-pounder out of the water. Finally, they chose an unusual, but effective, method--lashing the man to his boat with a rope and towing him to the shore. The embarrassed mariner thanked the crew and, unhurt and requesting anonymity, slipped away.
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