Boat involved in Coast Guard rescue washes ashore on San Francisco's Ocean Beach
It was quite a spectacle at Ocean Beach Monday as the boat at the center of the massive U.S. Coast Guard rescue over the weekend washed ashore.
Five people were rescued from the waters off Ocean Beach Sunday afternoon by fire crews and the Coast Guard, according to the fire department.
Curious beachgoers came by to take pictures Monday as the Coast Guard started a lengthy operation to remove the damaged boat from the beach. Jeffrey Miler, the captain and owner of the boat, talked about the dramatic rescue Sunday afternoon.
He said he and his passengers were out fishing when the boat's engine died. They ended up drifting into some very dangerous surf before he sent out an SOS.
"I did everything I could to keep my passengers safe," said Miler. "All of them had lifejackets on. They were pretty scared, 'cause I don't believe any of them could swim"
The boat was battered by the waves and is a total loss.
The waves were so powerful and massive, that they busted out all the windows down below," he said. Everything's trashed in there. It's all waterlogged."
Miler gave CBS News Bay Area cameras a look at the damage inside the boat. He said there were televisions inside that were all ruined. The waves were so powerful they even knocked the paint off the boat.
On Monday crews removed fuel from the vessel. The Coast Guard said the next step will be to tow the boat onto the beach where it will be broken apart. As of Tuesday afternoon, the boat was still intact on Ocean Beach.
