A fishing trip off the Santa Barbara coast Friday morning turned tragic when it resulted in one fatality and one critical injury after a 24-foot Skipjack boat sank approximately two miles off Leadbetter Point. The vessel, whose wreckage has yet to be located in the 150-foot deep waters, was carrying four individuals.
The incident unfolded around 7:45 a.m. when the distressed boat issued a mayday call. The Shearwater, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel, was just leaving Santa Barbara Harbor when the Harbor Patrol received the distress call. Lieutenant Kelly of Harbor Patrol said the clarity of the radio message meant the boat was nearby. Harbor Patrol radioed the Shearwater to request assistance as the Harbor Patrol crew scrambled to search the area.
The Shearwater was the first to find the boaters — three adults and a child — struggling in the 62ºF water. A crew member immediately leapt into the water with fins and floatation devices, taking first the child and then two unconscious adults to the waiting boats, said Sean Hastings, information officer for NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Both unconscious boaters were immediately given CPR, as the boats returned to the harbor.
City police, fire, and medics were waiting, and the four rescued boaters were transported to Cottage Hospital. Despite CPR efforts, one of the adults was later pronounced dead by the coroner’s office. Another boater remains in critical condition, while the child and the third adult were treated and subsequently released.
The cause of the sinking remains unknown. According to Lieutenant Kelly, the boat’s captain noticed the engine had quit and then that the boat was taking on water. The Skipjack has not been found and a search for the sunken vessel continues.
