Chinook father and boy airlifted from capsized boat

Published 1:30 am Monday, November 10, 2025

CHINOOK — A father and his son from Chinook were rescued Wednesday evening from the frigid waters of Baker Bay after their 22-foot fishing boat capsized near the Chinook Marina.

U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment received a call from family members at 6:42 p.m. about the boat, which was overdue from being out in the bay along the north shore of the Columbia River.

A 47-foot motor lifeboat was launched from Cape D and located the 38-year-old man and his five-year-old son clinging to the bottom of their vessel at 8:36 p.m., Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Daylan Garlic said at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A rescue swimmer was deployed from a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. The father and son were hoisted aboard at 8:50 p.m. and flown to an awaiting Emergency Medical Services crew, which transported them to Columbia Memorial Hospital for treatment for hypothermia. They were not wearing life jackets, until some were provided by the rescue swimmer.

Their condition was not immediately available. In the interest of privacy during an emotionally tense time, they are not identified by name in this report.

Weather at the scene was hazardous, with two- to four-foot swells, winds gusting to about 40 mph, a water temperature of 51 degrees and air temperature of 53 degrees. It was a dangerous afternoon in the area, with thunderstorms, erratic winds and even a tornado warning for a minor funnel cloud that was spotted between Chinook and Ilwaco, and which traveled northeast to approximately the Nemah area.