[Updated: Mon., Aug. 25, 2025, 10:12am]
The body of a surfer was discovered Thursday afternoon off the Gaviota Coast, west of Refugio Beach.
At 1:42 p.m., authorities received a report of a surfboard floating about 100 yards offshore near a kelp bed roughly three-quarters of a mile from Refugio, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
County Fire’s Ocean Rescue team responded alongside State Lifeguards, the Sheriff’s Office, an AMR ground ambulance, and County Air Support Helicopter 308. From above, the helicopter located the surfboard and guided rescue teams and their watercraft to the scene.
“An adult male was found subsurface, attached to the leash of the surfboard,” the County Fire Department reported. He was brought by rescue watercraft to Refugio Beach, where emergency personnel pronounced him dead.
The deceased surfer has been identified as 45-year-old Vincent Ian Posner of Santa Barbara, according to the county Coroner’s Bureau.
