A man stranded along with his dog aboard a sailboat drifting in 5-foot swells just off Catalina Island was guided to safety Friday by a deputy in Carson, authorities said.
The man called 911 about 2:35 a.m. to report that stormy conditions, high winds and significant swells caused his boat to drag anchor and go adrift, said Detective Mark Pope of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Carson Station.
The call was re-routed to the Carson station because it is the fallback station if Catalina’s 911 systems are inoperable, he said.
The man used his cell phone to call for help because he had no radio, Pope said. He also had no motor and did not know his location, despite having a GPS device on board, the detective said.
Carson Station Watch Deputy Aaron Bartsch took the call and asked the man for the make and model number of his GPS device. With that information, he located an owner’s manual online and guided the sailor in the use of the device’s navigational feature, Pope said.
“The boater was able to access the feature and provide Deputy Bartsch with his coordinates,” Pope said.
The deputy then relayed the coordinates to the sheriff’s Avalon Station, which reported them to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Baywatch team on the island, he said.
“The Baywatch team located the wayward vessel, boarded it, cut anchor and towed it to Avalon Bay,” Pope said.
The man and his dog were unharmed and the boat sustained no damage, he said.
The vessel was only 200 yards from where it had been anchored but was in danger of running aground when it was located, Pope said.
— City News Service