Coyote Point - A sailboat capsizes in San Francisco Bay — three in the water are saved by deputies who were training a half-mile away
Around half past one on a Sunday afternoon, a sailboat capsized in San Francisco Bay near Coyote Point, leaving three people clinging to the hull. San Mateo County Sheriff's Marine Unit deputies, out on a training exercise nearby, heard the call and pulled all three from the water. None was hurt, though all were shaking with cold.
What happened.
About 1:30 p.m. on Sunday 12 July 2026, a sailboat capsized in San Francisco Bay roughly half a mile east of San Francisco International Airport, near Coyote Point. Three people, all Foster City residents, were left clinging to the hull. San Mateo County Sheriff's Marine Unit deputies training nearby heard the call and pulled all three from the water. They were shaken and cold but unhurt.
It was early on a Sunday afternoon in July 2026 when a sailboat capsized in San Francisco Bay, about half a mile east of San Francisco International Airport and near Coyote Point. Three people were aboard, all of them from Foster City, and the capsize left them in the water, holding on to the overturned hull. What made the difference was luck of position. San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies from the Marine Unit happened to be out on a training exercise near the San Mateo Bridge when, around half past one, they heard the water-rescue call go out. They were on scene quickly and took all three people from the bay. None was injured, but all three were shaking from the cold of the water — a reminder that even in a temperate bay in summer, immersion pulls heat from the body fast. The deputies landed them at Coyote Point Marina, where firefighters and paramedics checked them over. It was, in the end, a good outcome: a capsized boat, three people in the water, and everyone ashore safe within minutes because help was close and a call went out.
What it teaches.
- 1A capsize can tip a whole crew into the water at once, with no time to fetch gear. The lifejacket that saves you is the one you are already wearing when the boat goes over. Clip it on before you leave the dock, especially in a small or open sailboat where a knockdown can come fast.
- 2An overturned hull floats and is far easier to see than a swimmer. Unless it is drawing you into danger, stay with the boat: hold on, keep the crew together, and make yourself a bigger target for rescuers. These three did exactly that and were found within minutes.
- 3Even in a sheltered summer bay, immersion drains body heat far faster than air, and cold can disable a swimmer before it kills. All three here were shaking with cold though unhurt. Treat time in the water as a clock: get out fast, get warm and dry, and have everyone checked for hypothermia.
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