Man Killed in Kayaking Accident Off Marin Coast Identified

By Bay City News Service:

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man killed this week in a kayaking accident north of Tomales Bay as 55-year-old Nicholas A. Anast.

Anast, a Santa Rosa Junior College professor, was kayaking with a friend Wednesday afternoon along the Marin County Coast, when the accident occurred, according to Lt. Doug Pittman.

The pair had reached a point just north of Dillon Beach, near the county line, when they decided to turn back. Anast fell into the water, and when the survivor turned back to help him, he found that the Anast’s kayak was filling with water. He tried to pull the man from the water, but they both fell in, Pittman said.

In conditions of heavy surf and strong winds, the survivor was able to get himself back to shore, but he lost sight of Anast in the water. A fisherman at the scene saw the two kayakers in distress and reported the incident just after 4:30 p.m., Pittman said.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office, Marin County Fire Department, Tomales Fire Volunteers, the California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene.

The Coast Guard helicopter and Marin County firefighters were able to retrieve the survivor from the rocky shoreline, but it was more than an hour before a news helicopter in the area spotted the victim’s body, Pittman said.

Pittman said the survivor told him that both men had been wearing life jackets when they set out. Anast was not wearing one when he was recovered from the water, but Pittman said it is not uncommon for a large or poorly secured life jacket to come loose in heavy surf or other rough conditions.