This weekend’s high winds and Bay conditions proved to be dangerous for a sailboater in Norfolk, who had to be rescued as his boat took on water.
The conditions were extreme for his rescuers, too. On Sunday around 10:20 a.m., Norfolk Police responded to Willoughby Bay for a report of a vessel in distress. At the time, a Small Craft Advisory was in effect. The National Weather Service had also issued a High Wind Warning for Sunday, predicting wind speeds of 40-60 miles per hour.
Norfolk Police Department’s Harbor Patrol Officers responded with Marine Unit 3. Harbor Patrol Units say they faced “severe gale force storm conditions” to reach the boat in distress.
You can see in this video, shared with Chesapeake Bay Magazine by police, the risk involved in making the rescue in heavy seas:
Harbor Patrol found the boat, a 38-foot-long sailboat with an inflatable dinghy off the back. There was one person on board, a 70-year-old man. The sailboat was “in severe distress”, police say, and actively taking on water.
Officers put their maritime training into action and were able to safely rescue the man from the sailboat and bring him to shore. Norfolk Fire-Rescue treated him once on land.
