4 dead after crabbing boat capsizes off Northern California coast; none wore life vests

BODEGA BAY, Calif. – Four people on a crabbing boat died Saturday off the coast of Northern California, when a wave capsized their vessel, sending a total of five people into the rough and cold water. Only one managed to survive by swimming to shore, officials said Saturday.

None of the passengers wore a life vest, which Sgt. Cecile Focha said were available on the boat.

“They weren’t using them,” Focha said. “It’s such a tragedy, such a loss.”

A mariner reported the overturned boat near Bodega Bay, about 70 miles north of San Francisco.

The lone survivor, Phillip Sanchez, 66, of Bodega Bay, told rescuers that they were returning in the privately owned 32-foot boat on the opening day of crabbing season. Sanchez says he managed to swim through the 9-foot swells and cling to sharp rocks until a California Highway Patrol helicopter rescued him.

Wearing a T-shirt and jeans, he sustained minor scrapes from the rocks and was very cold from the 59-degree water, Focha said.

A Coast Guard boat retrieved three men and one woman from the water. Focha declined to release their names until their relatives were notified. The accident remains under investigation, she said.