BANDON — A U.S. Coast Guard rescue case on Saturday has people in Bandon debating whether the agency responded quickly enough to save four kayakers dumped in the water while crossing the Coquille River bar.

All four were fine, but some witnesses contend the Coast Guard watched too long before it sailed in to save them.

The incident began with a 5:48 p.m. call to the Coast Guard’s Bandon station that several kayakers were swamped trying to cross the bar, Coast Guard BM1 Daniel Nielsen.

Four young adults from California, New Jersey and Texas had rented three pedal-powered kayaks from Bandon Kayak Rentals and paddled out between the jetties. All four were wearing life jackets

According to witnesses, the kayakers headed toward the bar and Bandon resident Chas Waldrop, who was riding his bike to the South Jetty, tried to wave and warn them back. A couple on the tandem kayak capsized on the first swell. The other two kayakers made it across the bar and paddled into the beach surf, according to the Coast Guard. They were unable to stay upright in the heavy swells and soon overturned and were separated from their boats, witness Robert Seaver said. It wasn’t long before a crowd gathered to watch from the South Jetty.

“It was like watching a train about to wreck and not being able to do anything about it,” Seaver said.

Onlookers called 911, and when they didn’t see a Coast Guard boat respond, Waldrop rode into Old Town to find Kayak Rentals owner Mike Sterling. Sterling said he called the Bandon station and convinced the crew the kayakers were in trouble.

Nielsen said he told Sterling his station received several calls when the kayakers first headed toward the bar, and Coast Guardsmen were watching them from Coast Guard hill.

“They were surf-kayaking for about 10 minutes,” Nielsen said. “We were watching it and once they passed the bar and were in the surf zone, they looked OK.”

Nielsen explained that kayakers often go over the bar and are similar to surfers in that they are seeking waves and whitewater-type experience.

By that time, a surfer wearing a wet suit, identified as Phil Shoaf, climbed down the rocks into the water with his surfboard, despite protests from onlookers. Shoaf was able to get hold of the two men who were drifting in the surf without their kayaks. The three held onto the surfboard about 100 yards off the North Jetty until the Coast Guard picked them up.

Nielsen said he received conflicting reports and decided to send two crewmen to the South Jetty to confirm what was happening and to see if they could help from the shore, since the motor lifeboat cannot navigate the shallow surf zone. After assessing the scene, and with coordination from Bandon police, the Coast Guard crew went to the boat basin and launched the 47-foot motor lifeboat. Nielsen said the response time from leaving the beach to launching the boat and responding to the scene was eight minutes.

The Coast Guard does not “launch blindly,” Nielsen explained. Instead, they get the information needed and plan the most effective rescue.

Seaver, however, said it appeared to be a long time before the Coast Guard arrived, even after numerous calls indicating the kayakers were in distress.

A short while after the lifeboat was on scene, a helicopter from Air Station North Bend arrived and assisted with the rescue. Bandon police also assisted.

The couple was treated and released at Southern Coos Hospital, Sterling said, adding that all three kayaks were recovered, two of them by the Coast Guard. He said the group later told him they were experienced in whitewater and had planned to kayak to Elephant Rock.

“They overestimated their abilities, in my opinion,” Sterling said. “They all told me that life jackets saved their lives.”