Pair walk safely to shore after boat runs aground

Two boaters in distress were able to safely walk to shore after a 30-foot commercial vessel lost power in the North Bay and ran aground at China Camp State Park near San Rafael, according to United States Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard got a phone call from a commercial fishing vessel that had run aground at China Camp around 8:34 a.m. They dispatched a 45-foot surf rescue boat and a helicopter, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jon Lane.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office also sent a rescue boat, sheriff’s officials announced around 9 a.m.

Initial reports from sheriff’s officials indicated that one person had already made it to shore and two more were still on the boat, but Lane has since clarified that there were two people on board and both of them safely walked to shore without needing to be rescued.

Lane said the boat may have run out of fuel before it lost power, and that’s how it ended up running aground.

The vessel’s owner and Coast Guard officials are now in the environmental mitigation phase, according to Lane, which involves getting the boat off the rocks or removing all the fuel and oil to minimize the risk of water contamination.