Yep, the rescue took a lot of brains... getting into the situation in the first place took a lack of them. 6 people in an 18ft skiff in choppy weather is not too brilliant, esp if the driver doesn't pay close attention to the swells - and in shallow water even a 3 ft chop is bad as the period of the waves is short... Then, if the motor fails it's pretty often game-over and there's an expensive and unpleasant conclusion. How much are a few fish worth?
I sailed Vancouver to San Francisco in a 35ft sailboat in October (a few years ago) and had 45kt winds, seas to 30 ft near the end of a 5-day storm. We made it just fine out in the deep water but another boat that tried to run and hide in Oregon got broken in half when they got into the shallower water near shore. I won't sail my 18ft racing boat in anything much over 2ft chop after that even if it means disqualification.
Rob