Daring Rescue Saves Boaters Close to Reef

A Laguna Beach lifeguard Sunday night swam to the rescue of two people and a dog in a motorboat that was within 20 yards of being crushed on a reef at the city’s Rockledge Cove.

Rescued by the action were Joan Kuder, 36, of Anaheim and Joao Verde, 27, of Upland. Kuder’s husband, Richard, 36, had swum to shore about 10 minutes before the rescue, trying to get help for the endangered boat.

The Kuders’ 19-foot motorboat had run out of gas on a return trip from Santa Catalina Island and had been drifting about two hours, officials said. Police and Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol officials said the boat was within minutes of being crushed on the rocks, possibly killing those on board, when lifeguard Sam Taylor, 25, ran to the cove, put on a wet suit and swam out to the boat.

Taylor was able to pull the boat away from the rocks and keep it away until a Harbor Patrol boat could arrive at the scene.

“It was the most heroic thing I’ve ever seen,” said Jerry Colburn, 42, a resident of the cove and a witness to the dramatic rescue.

Colburn said that Taylor “came rushing down the hill near my house like Superman . . . and when he put on his wet suit to go into the water, it was like Superman.”

Laguna Beach police and the Harbor Patrol deputies from Dana Point also credited Taylor’s action with keeping the powerless motorboat from hitting the rocks about 6:50 p.m. Sunday.

Taylor swam out to the boat against five-foot waves and in 60-degree water to pull the drifting boat away from the rocks, said Sgt. John Holani, watch commander of the Harbor Patrol. He said the boat was within minutes of striking the rocks and would have been destroyed, probably also meaning the death of the man, woman and dog still on the drifting vessel.

Lifeguard’s Actions Praised

“If anyone deserves credit, it’s that lifeguard, Sam Taylor,” said Holani. “He swam against the wind for about 200 yards pulling that boat (away from the rocks).”

Taylor has been with the city’s lifeguard department for 10 years. He was going to supper with his parents Sunday night “when his beeper sounded and he learned of the boat situation,” Colburn said.

Colburn said Taylor paddled on a surfboard out to the boat, which was about 40 yards offshore, but only 20 yards from a jutting reef. “He couldn’t use the surfboard to pull the boat, and the people on the boat couldn’t hold the board, so it was crushed on the rocks,” Colburn said.

Taylor put two float-ropes on the boat, said Colburn, and using them, he swam against the waves and offshore wind to pull the boat. The boat was taken in tow about 25 minutes later by the Harbor Patrol vessel, which safely brought it to Dana Point Harbor.

Holani said that Richard Kuder had made it safely to shore in the meantime.

“No one was hurt, not even the dog,” said Colburn, who is an author.

Colburn added: “Sam Taylor looked like (famed body builder) Jack LaLanne as he was pulling that boat out there. He deserves a medal.”