Posted on 06/16/2016 4:01:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Two fishermen were rescued in Oceanside Harbor Thursday morning after they encountered huge swells, causing their 16-foot boat to overturn.
"[We] cheated death today," survivor Ted Tielens told NBC 7 after the rescue.
The Oceanside Fire Department and Harbor Police launched rescue efforts in the water near the 1400 block of North Pacific Street just before 8:40 a.m. after Tielens' boat flipped.
Minutes later, crews were able to pull both Tielens and his grandson-in-law, Zach Petite, out of the water. Besides feeling shaken up, the men suffered only minor scrapes and bruises.
Tielens and Petite spoke with NBC 7 and recounted their harrowing boating accident.
The men said they were fishing in the bay and, when they realized they weren’t catching any fish, they decided to venture out into the harbor.
When they arrived at the mouth of the harbor, they were met with huge waves, including one that crept up behind them that was approximately 10 feet. When the men tried to maneuver their boat to get away from the wave, the vessel was overpowered by the water and overturned.
"We sped up but the break caught up with us, buried the bow and we went over," Tielens recounted.
The men told NBC 7 their vessel was destroyed and they lost everything on board, including clothing, fishing gear and equipment. Harbor Police towed the wrecked vessel out of the water. Still, Tielens and Petite were grateful it wasn’t worse and that they came out alive.
"Neither myself nor my grandson-in-law were injured. Everything's fine," Tielens added.
This rescue came amid a beach hazard warning and high surf at many of San Diego's beaches.
Tielens and Petite said they have been fishing in Oceanside Harbor for about seven years, and have never seen waves like the ones they survived Thursday.
Source: Follow us: @nbcsandiego on Twitter | NBCSanDiego on Facebook
How to cheat death:
Learn to swim.
Put on a life preserver
Don’t take a small boat out in 16ft swells
I remember going out in a 14ft boat similar to theirs on Lake of the Woods in Minnesota by the Canadian border.
We were in the bay where it was calm where Rainey River starts from. You could see the white caps on the lake outside the bay.... No way way would I dare go out. I also saw a large boat go by us heading into the lake.
The lifeboat hanging off the back end looked like our boat!
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8452297,-94.6683474,12.71z?hl=en
That was a large lake bigger then all of Minnesota’s lakes combined but it is a small small drop compared to the ocean. What were these guys drinking?
I’m perfectly happy in the desert southwest. Never had an urge to sail the seven seas or go round the Horn of Africa. And you never cheat Death. He just comes back at your appointed time.
I wonder how many firearms were lost.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Isn’t it the Rainy River, running between International Falls and Fort Frances? I played hockey in Fort Frances.
Zoom in on the google map link. You can then see the name Rainy river.
It is like asking where Fish lake or Sunfish lake or Portage lake is in Minnesota. Throw a rock and you’re there.
We went out in March on a huge cat. We had 10 ft swells with 3-4 ft waves on top of them. Quite the woohoo! ride. lol
I can’t imagine being on a small boat. These guys were really stupid....and lucky. They should have listened to the warnings.
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