NELS JOHNSON
Marin Independent Journal

An off-duty Marin County firefighter rescued two crab fishermen whose foundering vessel was headed for the rocks at Rodeo Beach Sunday.

Colleagues hailed firefighter Rick Racich as a hero following the dramatic rescue in angry seas.

Racich, taking advantage of storm-whipped waves on a day off, was at the beach to surf about 9 a.m. when he spotted a man and woman in distress aboard a small craft buffeted by stiff wind and pounded by waves.

"I was out there with a buddy to surf, and we just pulled into the parking lot and I saw this boat out there, and I thought, 'Man, these guys are crazy fishermen,' because it was real rough," said Racich, a 46-year-old firefighter based at the Marin City station. "As we got closer, I said, 'I think these guys are in trouble.'"

As a ranger called the Coast Guard, Racich put on his wet suit and paddled out, breaking through combers that pushed his buddy back to shore. He persuaded the frantic couple to bail out before they were churned into the rocks. "They had life preservers on and we all held on to the surfboard and kicked away from the rocks, " he said.

About that time, a Coast Guard vessel arrived, and Racich maneuvered the board far enough out so that authorities could pluck the pair from the water.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Kevin Metcalf said the two were taken to Horseshoe Cove and treated for mild hypothermia, then released. Their boat, a 25-foot Bayliner, was wrecked.

Racich saved their lives until the Coast Guard was able to assist, Metcalf said. Racich also was lauded as a lifesaver by Marin fire officials.

"Racich was able to convince the two occupants in the boat to jump in the water as the boat was drifting toward the rocks," said county Battalion Chief Mike Giannini. "Once the boaters were in the water and clinging to his surfboard, he paddled them out a safe distance to meet the Coast Guard vessel."

"Without Rick's action, the occupants would have been in grave danger and sustained potentially life-threatening injuries," added Southern Marin Battalion Chief Matt Bouchard. "It was not a big deal," Racich insisted. "The outcome was good."

The man and woman were pulling crab pots in the area and were unable to get their boat underway. Their identities were not immediately available.

The recreational sport fishing crab season opened Saturday, and many fishermen reported plump Dungeness crabs were plentiful. Most stayed at bay Sunday morning, however, in light of a small craft advisory about dangerous seas complete with pouring rain, brisk winds and seven-to-ten-foot swells topped by four-to five-foot wind waves.

"These folks for whatever reason decided they had to be out there," Giannini said of the wayward crabbers. "Luckily the timing fell into place and Rick was out there, too. "


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November 7, 2010