A Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria medevacs a woman off a cruise ship nearly 120 miles west of Grays Harbor, Washington, on July 29, 2025. The woman was experiencing a health emergency and transported to Air Station Astoria to awaiting emergency medical services. (U.S. Coast Guard video)
Station Cape Disappointment is known around the Coast Guard as an unforgiving and challenging place to operate. Notorious for 2000 shipwrecks and 700 deaths since its discovery, people across the world recognize it as the Graveyard of the Pacific. But to the crew of Station Cape Disappointment, it is both a home and a training ground.
There is nothing more valuable to human life than the knowledge and skills required to preserve it. A recent course held in Astoria, Ore., offered students exactly that sort of value. The course, specifically designed to educate commercial fishermen on how to survive maritime emergencies, offered a host of information and practical experience aimed at saving their lives.
