(08-12) 21:36 PDT BERKELEY -- Berkeley resident Adam Cohen's already atypical commute home from San Francisco in a motorized inflatable boat turned even more unusual Monday evening when he helped a group of windsurfers rescue a dog from the middle of the bay.

Cohen, 55, vice president of engineering for a tech startup in the Presidio, was heading east across the bay with a co-worker when he saw a group of five windsurfers, sails down, in the water about a quarter mile off the end of the abandoned section of the Berkeley Pier - perhaps two or three miles from shore.

Concerned they might be in trouble, he stopped to check. The windsurfers were fine, but they were huddled together in the water around a waterlogged black dog - possibly a Labrador-pit bull mix - they had placed atop one of the boards. One of the windsurfers was on a two-way radio, trying to convince the Coast Guard to rescue the dog.

"She was way out there." he said. "It looked like she was trying to swim to Angel Island."

Cohen offered to take the dog, which had a collar but no tags, to his North Berkeley home and then to the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society in the morning.

The bay was a bit choppy so it took a while to maneuver his 22-foot Raider 665 into position.

"Then we reached down, picked her up and put her in the boat," Cohen said.

The dog was shaking and seemed disoriented. He took her home, put her on a pad and wrapped her in a blanket. A couple of hours later, she seemed to be recovering, Cohen said.

"She's not eating or drinking yet, but she's gotten up and taken a couple of walks in the yard," he said.

On Tuesday morning, Cohen plans to take the dog to the humane society, hoping she has an implanted identification chip or that someone has reported her missing.

But there could be a change of plans.

"My wife says we should keep her," he laughed.