Boat Accidents Los Angeles County

Coast Guard investigators sorted through the wreck of a yacht Sunday that burned in Marina del Rey on Saturday night while a corporate Christmas party was underway on deck. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were en route to Los Angeles to join the investigation of the fire, which Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say was caused by a spark in the 70-foot Sundowner's smokestack.

Dozens of partygoers had to swim for their lives Saturday night when a chartered cruise boat caught fire during a corporate Christmas party in the middle of the harbor at Marina del Rey. The craft, the Sundowner, which usually has 60 to 80 passengers, was gutted by the 9:15 p.m. fire. Many on board had to dive off the burning ship and swim 60 feet to the dock. More than an hour after the fire began, the boat was still on fire as authorities were unable to extinguish the blaze.

A speedboat driver survived a dramatic crash Saturday after he lost control of his craft while speeding 200 m.p.h. at a San Dimas reservoir, authorities said. Jerry Tolivar, 45, of Huntington Beach was rescued from the water and airlifted to Long Beach Memorial Hospital where he was listed in serious condition, officials said. "He was talking and alert when he was taken to the hospital," said Sgt. Ralph Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Park Police.

With the boating season just moving into high gear, three people have already died in accidents at Pyramid Lake, a popular recreation spot 35 miles northwest of the San Fernando Valley. Some people, citing cutbacks in lake patrols and permissive laws that allow almost anyone, regardless of age or ability, to operate boats, say the tragedies were not unexpected. "People I've talked to say they don't even go up to that lake anymore because it's dangerous," said Brenda Emery, 33, of Canyon Country.

The body of a woman missing since a boating accident Sunday was found late Thursday morning after numerous, daily underwater searches by divers, officials said. Authorities identified the victim as Leah Helbert, 24, of Sylmar. The body of the other victim, Joey Halsey, 27, also of Sylmar, was recovered Wednesday. The speedboat in which they were riding sank after it apparently hit a wake and dove tip-first into the water, authorities said.

The body of one of two boaters missing since an accident on the lake Sunday was recovered on Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said. On one of the last dives Wednesday afternoon in water about 130 feet deep, the body of Joey Halsey, 27, of Sylmar, was found, officials said. "It was in the vicinity of the crash in the part of the lake called Yellowbar," said Deputy Paul Hardy, one of two deputies assigned to the Pyramid Lake Sheriff's Station.

Friends and relatives of two people still missing after a weekend boat accident kept a sad vigil Monday on the shore of Pyramid Lake as divers searched for the bodies. The accident occurred Sunday afternoon when a Bonner-18 speedboat carrying four people apparently hit an unusually high wake and plummeted tip first into the water, authorities said. All aboard were wearing life jackets, but only two could be rescued. A man and woman are still missing.

One person died and two others were presumed dead Sunday in two separate boating accidents within hours of each other on Pyramid Lake, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said. The first accident occurred about 1 p.m., when a bass fishing boat carrying three people collided with a jet-powered personal watercraft. A 43-year-old Llano man aboard the bass boat was knocked into the water, as was the driver of the jet ski, a 22-year-old Canyon Country man, Deputy Diane Hecht said.

Three San Diego men had much to be thankful for Thursday after their 24-foot dive boat sank, forcing them to endure 15 hours in the chilly seas off Santa Catalina Island before they were rescued. "It's a great Thanksgiving," said Ken Gerken, 35, as he and the two others recuperated at an Avalon hospital. "When we first sank, we saw Dana Point pretty clear. We saw the Orange County lights, and then they all disappeared. . . . I just kept praying to God that I wouldn't give up."

A man who left the scene of a fatal hit-and-run jet-ski accident at Castaic Lake during Labor Day weekend is being sought for questioning by police, authorities said Wednesday. A friend found the body of Louie Ronald Ellis, 51, of Glendora, floating in a portion of the lake reserved for jet skiers at about 10:15 a.m. on Sept. 4. Investigators said the accident may have occurred up to half an hour before Ellis was discovered.