Rescuers aid disabled sailboat adrift with 3 aboard off the Golden Gate

SAN FRANCISCO - Rescue boats and a California Highway Patrol helicopter assisted a disabled sailboat adrift near rocks Saturday afternoon outside the Golden Gate, the San Francisco Fire Department said.   

Rescue Boat 1 made contact about 4:45 p.m. with the 30-foot sailboat after it lost auxiliary power near Mile Rock, fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter said.   

Mile Rock is a lighthouse notable for its distinctive helipad off Lands End, about a mile southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge.   

The sailboat, which called for help about 4:30 p.m., was taken under emergency tow by the rescue boat because its anchor was not holding in strong currents, Baxter said.   

Three people were aboard the sailboat, and no injuries were reported, the fire department said.   

The southern side of the entrance to the Golden Gate is menaced by dangerous rocks that have claimed numerous vessels, including San Francisco's worst shipwrecks.