Shipwreck Log

The 46 foot long fishing vessel West Wind sank off Crescent City, California.   The West Wind were fishing crab when the crew noticed the vessel was riding lower in the water.  Upon inspection, they found the boat was taking on water.   The crew sent out a distress call to the Coast Guard.   The message was garbled, but the Coast Guard was able to calculate the approximate location and dispatched a helicopter and motor lifeboat to the scene.   The helicopter reached the scene and found the crew of three in a raft with two of them in their survival suits.  The helicopter was able to winch up all three men and safely return to Crescent City.   The one crewman who was not in a survival suit suffered from hypothermia.   There was some debris from the sunken vessel, but no signs of a fuel spill.