Two people died after their boat capsized off the coast of Santa Barbara last week.
According to Habor Patrol Supervisor Lt. Ryan Kelly, the Harbor Patrol and a NOAA shearwater research vessel responded to a mayday call from the boat Friday at around 7:48 a.m.
Kelly says the first people on scene found three adults and one child in the water.
Rescue swimmers pulled two of the adults from the water. Both were said to be unconscious.
Kelly says CPR was performed and that both people were taken to a nearby hospital but, according to family members, neither survived.
The boat is described as a 24-foot Skipjack motorboat registered in Azusa. Kelly says the group was on a fishing trip and that the boat was capsized when crews arrived on scene, adding that only a foot of the bow was showing shortly after.
He says it’s not known whether there will be attempts to retrieve the boat from the water, estimated to be between 150 and 180-feet deep in the area.
“Always wear a life jacket,” Kelly urges other boaters, noting that in this incident, only the child was wearing one. “It’s like wearing your seatbelt in a car. You should always do it.”
Kelly says this is the first fatal boating incident in the area this year.
