So, about 8-ish years ago a crabber drowned in Tomales Bay while setting gear. The tide was running fairly quickly and he tossed the crab ring out of the boat while, apparently, standing in the rope to the buoy. The boat was drifting quickly in the current and the ring net hit bottom and hung up on a rock. The crabber was dragged over the side from the moving boat and was held underwater by the current. The net wasn't heavy enough to drag him over but the Earth itself was. I told you this story in order to frame the next one.

    Today, three crabbers in a 12 foot boat were cruising down the channel off of Sand Point when the boat came to a sudden stop. Water immediately started coming over the transom and within seconds the boat sank. The three crabbers were able to swim to shore on Tomales Point and were brought back over by the Marin County Fire Department and the CHP helicopter. From the third-hand account I heard, it sounds to me like they ran over a crab rope and buoy that were held underwater by the ripping outgoing current, and that ripping outgoing current then washed over the now stern-anchored vessel. That'll sink you quick. I'm guessing that the 48 degree water is probably not conducive to continued human life, so good on those guys for getting to shore quickly. If you read this and you are one of the guys and I got the story wrong, please let me know at lawsonslanding@gmail.com and I will correct it. Otherwise, it seems that the murder traps almost got one today.