Boat Accidents Orange County

Coast Guard officials Tuesday were investigating an accident in which the venerable schooner Diosa del Mar--believed to be one of the oldest registered vessels in California--broke up and sank on a reef offshore here during an annual firefighters' ocean race. The captain and all 12 passengers, reported to be members of Southland fire departments, were plucked unharmed from the sea by rescue craft that converged on the scene moments after the Monday afternoon incident.

Three boaters were rescued unharmed after they abandoned their 36-foot power craft when it began to sink six miles off Newport Harbor, police said Thursday. The vessel's owners, Len Hamilton and Curtis Green, and a friend reported that a cooling hose linked to one of the engines apparently broke, and the boat began sinking, authorities said. Rescue crews found them in an 8-foot inflatable boat about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Orange County Sheriff's Capt. Marty Kasules said.

Three people on an outing to Santa Catalina Island abandoned their 82-foot pleasure boat Friday when it caught fire, and watched as it sank eight miles off Newport Beach despite the efforts of seagoing firefighters. The Solar Wind, a yacht based in Newport Harbor, sank in about 1,200 feet of water with 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard. Firefighters from the U.S.

Eight men slept on the 66-foot sailing boat, lulled by the gentle rocking of the Pacific, when a booming thud jolted them awake. The sailors, a mix of experienced seamen and neophytes from an Orange Coast College program, swarmed over the vessel for the next 30 minutes, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and whether their lives were in immediate peril. "I thought the mast had broken . . .

Nine people were rescued from a 55-foot powerboat off Huntington Beach on Sunday after a broken hydraulic line spilled fluid onto a hot turbocharger, creating a cloud of smoke. The owner of the boat, Dale Anderson, said no fire broke out and no one was injured. "When they saw all the smoke, they got excited and called the Harbor Patrol," said Anderson, who was not aboard. His partner had taken friends out on the boat, he said.

A developer awaiting trial for allegedly killing a former employee was rescued ashore early Monday after his powerboat drifted onto rocks south of the jetty, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. James Newman Hood, 50, had his cabin cruiser on automatic pilot at 1:20 a.m. when it missed the harbor entrance and was caught on the reefs, Lt. Dick Olson said.

The Navy has quietly launched a safety review of all of its mooring buoys in the United States in the wake of a court ruling on a fatal boating accident involving an unlit buoy in Anaheim Bay. In addition to reviewing the marking, lighting and placement of all such buoys, the Navy is studying what one official described as "new technologies" that might permit the use of lighter construction materials in the buoys, commonly heavy metal cans.

Two men were injured, one critically, when their twin-hulled powerboat flipped several times and slammed into the water during the Dana Point Offshore Grand Prix race Sunday, authorities said. Bryan Darling, 39, of Aliso Viejo, and John Pace, 35, of Huntington Beach, were injured when their 28-foot Skater class boat, XPLOSIVE, overturned in choppy waters midway through the race.

A Newport Beach couple and a friend, who abandoned a 48-foot fishing boat that caught fire 20 miles off San Clemente Island, were rescued a few hours later, authorities reported Friday. Owners of the boat, Fred Peterman, and his wife, whose name was not known by authorities, and a friend, Robert Platman of Marina del Rey, were found in a rubber raft they launched after the fire started Thursday afternoon aboard the boat called the Runaway. The fire-damaged boat sank.

An Irvine woman leaped into the sea to save herself Sunday when a galley stove exploded into flames and destroyed the 26-foot powerboat she was skippering alone off Crystal Cove, the Sheriff's Department reported. Lt. Jay Mendez said a solo pleasure cruise for Michaelene B. Yurek, 37, ended in disaster about 12:20 p.m. after she tried to make a pot of tea on an alcohol stove that apparently malfunctioned and caught fire.

Police are investigating a boat explosion in Newport Harbor on Sunday that blew one man onto the dock and destroyed the vessel, police said. Brothers Jeffrey Clayton Hines, 45, of Cardiff, and Marc Langley Hines, 43, of Rancho Mirage, were filling a friend's powerboat with gasoline at Hill's Chevron in Newport Harbor when it exploded. Earlier, the 28-foot vessel had failed to start, so Jeffrey Hines held two electrical wires together while his brother turned the ignition key, said Sgt.

A group of deep-sea fishermen had a scare Saturday afternoon when their charter boat started taking on water 1.5 miles off the Huntington Beach pier. The Long Beach-based Maverick, a 52-foot commercial fishing vessel, placed a distress call around 12:45 p.m. after a plug came loose in the boat's bait tank, allowing 3 feet of water to seep on board, said Petty Officer Billy Davidson of the oast Guard's search and rescue office in Long Beach.

Two men were injured, one critically, when their twin-hulled powerboat flipped several times and slammed into the water during the Dana Point Offshore Grand Prix race Sunday, authorities said. Bryan Darling, 39, of Aliso Viejo, and John Pace, 35, of Huntington Beach, were injured when their 28-foot Skater class boat, XPLOSIVE, overturned in choppy waters midway through the race.

The Coast Guard on Monday afternoon found debris from an apparently capsized commercial fishing boat that was last seen in port in Newport Beach about a week ago, but the owner has not been located. Rescuers were searching for Ken Phillips, 32, who owns and operates the boat. He had no crew members aboard. The debris, including pieces of wood from the boat, fuel drums and a cooler, was found in Mexican waters, about 140 miles southwest of San Diego.

Terri Meek's modest Christmas tree, gilded with gold tinsel and a smattering of mismatched ornaments, stood Tuesday in her one-bedroom apartment without presents beneath it. All that is expected to change after an outpouring of community help gushed forward to assist the family after her husband was lost at sea just days before the holiday.

Timothy Meek was disabled, living alone in motel rooms and unable to afford repairs to the 18-foot boat that was the means of his existence. A dory fisherman stationed at the base of the Newport Beach Pier, he was also struggling every day to bring in enough of a catch to make a difference.

Coast Guard searchers Tuesday morning recovered the bodies of two men amid debris from a boat that apparently sank along a busy shipping corridor about 10 miles off Newport Beach. The search for other possible victims and remains of the vessel continued till dusk, as Coast Guard vessels scoured 450 square miles of ocean surrounding the point where the bodies were found. The search was discontinued because of darkness.

After combing the waters off Newport Beach all day, the U.S. Coast Guard called off a search for a fisherman missing since early Sunday. The 18-foot fishing boat he and a companion had been on capsized about 7:30 a.m. about three miles off Newport Beach, said Petty Officer Kerry Kingery of Search and Rescue for the Coast Guard. "A wave came over the back end of the boat and they started to sink," he said. "It's a low kind of vessel, and it doesn't take much for it to sink."

Timothy Meek was disabled, living alone in motel rooms and unable to afford repairs to the 18-foot boat that was the crutch of his existence. A Dory fisherman stationed at the base of Newport Pier, he was struggling every day to bring in enough of a catch to make a difference.

After combing the waters off Newport Beach all day, the U.S. Coast Guard called off a search for a fisherman missing since early Sunday. The 18-foot fishing boat he and a companion had been on capsized about 7:30 a.m. about three miles off Newport Beach, said Petty Officer Kerry Kingery of Search and Rescue for the Coast Guard. "A wave came over the back end of the boat and they started to sink," he said. "It's a low kind of vessel, and it doesn't take much for it to sink."