Thanks to Katie Senor for emailing this to me:
Boat rescuer killed in weekend Delta accident
By Robert Salonga
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 08/17/2009 02:57:33 PM PDT
Updated: 08/17/2009 03:40:36 PM PDT
BETHEL ISLAND — A man whose job was rescuing stranded Delta boaters died over the weekend after his vessel collided with a sea wall near the Carquinez Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Jerry Campbell, 59, of Bethel Island, was heading home about 9:30 p.m. Friday in a 26-foot salvaging vessel dubbed "Old River" when it collided with the break wall on Mare Island in the Mare Island Strait, said Petty Officer Erik Swanson.
The Coast Guard's Vallejo station got a call about the collision within 15 minutes, boarded a boat and found Campbell badly injured without a pulse, Swanson said. He was taken to a Vallejo hospital, where he died.
The cause of the vessel crash remains under investigation. Swanson said boating conditions were calm, with winds of 10 knots, visibility for five nautical miles and calm seas.
Campbell worked for the Delta branch of Vessel Assist, a service similar to that of an auto club, and had towed both a stranded-client boat and a Vessel Assist boat initially sent out for the rescue but which had lost power.
Dave Delano, president of Yachting Specialties and Campbell's employer, said Campbell was on the phone with Terry, his wife of more than 25 years, when the collision occurred. Terry Campbell did not hear any signs of trouble until the moment of impact, when she heard her husband's phone drop to the floor, Delano said.
Terry Campbell kept the phone line open, and listened as the Coast Guard boarded the boat and announced that her husband did not have a pulse, Delano said.
Delano described Campbell, an Air Force retiree who worked for his firm for about six years, as a consummate professional who would answer tow calls day and night.
"He was a great guy and probably one of the best captains I had," Delano said. "He was ready to go anytime."
Campbell lived with his wife in a motor home in Bethel Island for the spring, summer and early fall while he worked as a vessel operator.
In the colder months, Delano said Campbell and his wife would lead an annual caravan of motor homes to Baja California, Mexico.
Delano said there are tentative plans to hold a memorial for Campbell toward the end of the month on Bethel Island, and to scatter his ashes in the San Joaquin River. Campbell is survived by his wife and an adult daughter."
Note: Dave Delano is Phil's father and his employer.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13145675?nclick_check=1
