Here's the followup article on the boating accident in Eureka.<br /><br /><br />Wall of water <br />Boat survivor recounts terrifying wave, rescue ordeal <br />John Driscoll<br />Eureka Times Standard <br /> <br />The driver of the ill-fated sport fishing boat that flipped in the surf off Manila on Saturday said a massive rogue wave slammed into the craft, tossing it like an empty cigarette box thrown out of a car. <br /><br />It led to the death of two of his friends. A rescue effort that followed was also doomed, with a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65B Dolphin helicopter falling from a hover into the waves.<br /><br />Longtime Eureka fisherman Richard Pincsak said he and his friends took advantage of the nice day to set some crab pots and go halibut fishing. The 59-year-old had his White Horse II in about 35 to 40 feet of water. It was warm and calm, Pincsak said, and his passengers opted not to put on the lifejackets he offered them. <br /><br />Pincsak was at the controls of the 18-foot boat when he looked up to see a huge wave bearing down on the boat. <br /><br />All there was was this massive wall of water coming at us, Pincsak. I have no idea how tall it was. It was all white.<br /><br />Pincsak said he managed to point the boat head-on into the wave, but it upended the boat. That sent passengers Charles Wayne Baker, 59, and his mother Vesta Lorraine Baker authorities now list her age as 78 into the water. Her other son, Terry Gordon Winkle, 55, also was tossed into the water. Winkle would later estimate the wave to be 30 feet, though average seas that day were about 4 feet. <br /><br />Pincsak, the only one wearing a life jacket, ended up under the overturned boat in a rapidly shrinking air pocket. He knew he had to get out, but his lifejacket kept him too buoyant to escape. He took off his lifejacket and pulled himself out from under the boat and clung onto the engine. <br /><br />Pincsak said he tried to shuffle lifejackets and a floating cushion to Charles, who was on top of the hull. He said Vesta grabbed onto a cushion.<br /><br />But the breakers were now pushing the boat to shore, Pincsak said. Eventually, he could feel the bottom, and soon he was in chest-deep water and there was the Coast Guard helicopter hovering overhead. It had been dispatched after two beachcombers rushed to Woodley Island to report the incident. <br /><br />Pincsak said he was trying to keep everyone calm and accounted for. He was ingesting and vomiting up sea water and gas and oil from the engine housing. <br /><br />The helicopter had dropped a rescue swimmer into the water, who tried to help Vesta. Then the rescue went sour.<br /><br />The helicopter just dropped like a rock into the ocean, Pincsak said. <br /><br />Then Charles Baker dived from his safe perch on top of the hull into the water, Pincsak said, adding that Baker was quickly caught in a rip current and began to panic.<br /><br />The last time I saw him, he was going under, Pincsak said. <br /><br />Pincsak, despite the onset of hypothermia, crawled toward the beach. <br /><br />Two Humboldt County Sheriff's deputies, Roy Reynolds and Rick Chandler, pulled Pincsak and Winkle out of the surf. Other help, including a Coast Guard cutter, and other helicopters were either there or on their way. <br /><br />The two were taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka. Vesta and Charles were pulled from the surf, but they were already dead from drowning. The Coast Guard crew made it out of the surf safely. <br /><br />Boating safety deputy Phil Daastol said the accident report will be sent to the state for review, and to determine if safety recommendations can be built from the case.<br /><br />Daastol said that operating anywhere near the surf zone is dangerous, as sets of waves can stack up. <br /><br />All of a sudden you think, That was a bigger wave,' Daastol said.Then you're in too close. You don't realize what's happening to you.<br /><br />But Daastol also said that Pincsak was an experienced operator who had on board all the recommended safety gear and more, including a radio connected to a GPS unit that can radio a boat's position when making a distress call. Pincsak said he never had time to flip that switch. <br /><br />Daastol said two lessons can be learned. One, those who stayed with the boat survived. Two, lifejackets should be worn, even on deceptively calm days. <br /><br />Investigators from the Coast Guard began to examine the wreckage and accounts of the helicopter crash Monday. Flights of the other two helicopters at the Coast Guard air station continue, said Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Stephen Baxter.<br /><br />We're still full ready, he said. <br /><br />The station is scheduled to receive three newer model Dolphin helicopters HH-65Cs next year. <br /><br />Pincsak was at home Monday, nursing cracked ribs, scratches and bruises. Pincsak said Winkle was in the same condition. <br /><br />Pincsak was also mourning the loss of his friends, he said, especially Vesta. He was also replaying the incident in his mind. He said to please tell people to wear their lifejackets, even if the ocean appears gentle.
