Peacock Spit is one of the most hazardous zones within the “Graveyard of the Pacific” at the mouth of the Columbia River. Its extreme danger stems from a unique combination of geography and fluid dynamics: 

• Converging Wave Patterns: Waves at Peacock Spit are notorious for breaking from three different directions simultaneously. This creates a “washing machine” of unpredictable turbulence that can easily capsize or swamp a vessel.
• The “Fire Hose” Effect: The Columbia River’s massive westward current (4–7 knots) is focused through a narrow channel like a fire hose. When this current hits incoming Pacific swells and strong westerly winds, it generates massive standing waves and “sneaker” swells that can break suddenly even on calm days.
• Deceptive Shoals: The area is a spit-shaped sandbar where water depth drops abruptly from 30–40 fathoms to as little as 10–15 feet. This shallow depth causes waves to transition into violent, towering breakers that have historically “pounded ships to pieces” or swallowed them in shifting quicksands.
• The Ebb Tide Trap: During a max ebb (outgoing) tide, the current naturally carries disabled vessels directly toward the spit. This was the exact danger faced by the Cathrine M during David Ramsey’s rescue; the vessel was drifting toward the shallow rocks of the spit where breakers were reaching 25 to 35 feet.
• Historical Fatality: The spit is the site of the greatest maritime disaster in the 20th-century Columbia River Bar history—the 1936 wreck of the SS Iowa, which was driven onto the spit by hurricane-force winds, resulting in the loss of all 34 crew members. 

https://professionalmariner.com/association-for-rescue-at-sea-to-recognize-heroism/

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AFRAS Gold Medal, officially known as the VADM Thomas Sargent III Gold Medal, is the highest search and rescue (SAR) award presented to a member of the United States Coast Guard by a civilian organization. 

Overview and Criteria

• Established: The award was initially established in 1982.
• Eligibility: It is presented annually by the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) to a Coast Guard enlisted man or woman.
• Heroism: Recipients are honored for an act of extraordinary bravery during a rescue at sea, typically occurring during the previous calendar year.
• Naming: In 2009, it was renamed to honor Vice Admiral Thomas Sargent III, the Association’s first chairman and a former Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Recent Recipients

The award recognizes specific lifesaving missions where the rescuer faced extreme peril: 

• 2025 Winner: AST2 James Chandler (Air Station Houston) for saving eight lives from a sinking dive boat during severe thunderstorms in May 2024.
• 2024 Winner: BM2 Joshua A. Marzilli (Station Maui) for his heroic efforts during the 2023 Western Maui wildfires, including swimming through burning debris to rescue stranded individuals.
• 2023 Winner: ME2 David Flores (MSST Houston) for diving into the Rio Grande to save an infant and two adults from drowning in June 2022.
• 2022 Winner: AST2 Adam J. Via (Air Station Cape Cod) for rescuing five mariners from a burning trawler in 50-knot winds and 15-foot seas in 2021. 
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  Related Awards
  AFRAS also presents other honors at its annual Capitol Hill Gold Medal Ceremony: 
  AFRAS Silver Medal: Awarded annually to a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for similar acts of bravery.
  Chairman’s Award: Given to Auxiliarists when they perform heroic acts that do not quite meet the criteria for the Silver Medal.
  Amver Awards: Recognizes commercial mariners (ship captains and crews) for exceptional seamanship in rescues. 
• https://rescueatsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2007Fall.pdf

https://rescueatsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2007Fall.pdf