Boat sinks in Lake Tahoe with 4 men on board; All rescued after late night search

Four men from San Francisco are very lucky today after being rescued early Sunday morning after their rented boat sank three miles off shore in the cold waters of Lake Tahoe.

Shouts for help were heard from people staying both at the Zephyr Cove Presbyterian Center and in Marla Bay, and 911 calls were made into the Tahoe Douglas Fire station.

For reasons unknown at this time, the boat started taking in water at about 10:00 p.m. None of the four passengers were wearing life jackets.

The lake was "eerily" quiet when searchers got to the area they thought the boaters were located. Along with quiet and dark skies, they had trouble finding the missing men.

At 12:06 a.m., the Marine 24 boat from Tahoe Douglas Fire Department came across one man, then quickly found the other three completely submerged in the water, holding onto an ice chest and flotation seat cushion.

"It was a good outcome and very lucky for the men who did not have life jackets on during the incident," said Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshal Eric Guevin.

Once the men were pulled from the water they were taken to the nearby fire station where they were given hot showers and hot tea, and nobody required medical attention.

Guevin said their department has just spent the day Saturday working on the lake, perfecting lifesaving skills. Little did they know those skills would be put to the test so quickly.

"They are so lucky," said Guevin.

The U.S. Coast Guard also responded. Guevin said the helicopter from Cal Star wasn't able to get up right away, and the men were found before they could respond.

The 21-foot boat had been rented earlier in the day from the Ski Run Marina. All boats are required to be back by sunset so they attempted to call the men at 7:30 p.m., with no response.

At 8:30 p.m., the Coast Guard had come across the men hours earlier to tell them to turn on their running lights in the darkening skies. At that time the boat was headed back to the Ski Run area so the Coast Guard wasn't concerned.

What happened between that time, and the men being recovered from the water after midnight is unclear.

Officials are not sure why the boat sank and why it went down so quickly. The Ski Run Marina, Coast Guard and Tahoe Douglas Fire Department are continuing their own investigations.