A weekend kayaking outing on Tomales Bay ended in tragedy after a 37-year-old Los Angeles woman died when her kayak flipped near Point Reyes National Seashore.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Brigitte Manspeaker. She was kayaking with her boyfriend and a dog on the evening of March 21 when their vessel capsized close to Mendoza Beach. Emergency calls came in around 6:10 p.m., and a Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter that was already in the area reached the scene within 12 minutes.
Aerial footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the man holding onto the overturned kayak in the water alongside a black-and-white dog. Rescue crews used a 100-foot longline from the helicopter to pull him to shore. He told the flight officer that Manspeaker had slipped out of her personal flotation device and gone under…