Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : MISCELLANY / NEWSMAKERS AND MILESTONES

A Laguna Beach lifeguard became an instant hero last week when he came to the rescue of a man, woman and dog adrift on a boat edging perilously close to a jagged reef off Laguna Beach.

“It was the most heroic rescue I’ve ever seen,” said one witness of Sam Taylor’s dramatic plunge into the surf to pull the powerless motorboat away from the rocks--saving the boat from certain ruin and its occupants from possible death.

The 21-foot boat ran out of gas on a return trip from Santa Catalina Island late Sunday afternoon and had been drifting for nearly two hours when Taylor got the call. By the time the 25-year-old lifeguard arrived at Rockledge Cove, the boat was within 20 yards of the rocks.

Jerry Colburn, a resident of the cove, said 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.”

Waiting nervously on the boat were Joan Kuder, 36, of Anaheim, Joao Verde, 27, of Upland and Kuder’s dog. Kuder’s husband, Richard, had swum to shore about 10 minutes earlier seeking help.

“I thought he was a surfer,” Joan Kuder confessed. “But he was too nice to be a surfer. He told us what he was going to do, then he tied one of his floaters to the boat and put the other around his waist. By doing the freestyle (stroke), he pulled us to safety.”

Taylor, a 10-season veteran of the lifeguard force, was swimming against five-foot waves in 60-degree water, pulling the boat away from the reef until a Harbor Patrol boat could arrive and tow it to Dana Point Harbor.

“It was a little dramatic because it was close to the rocks and the surf was up,” Taylor said modestly. “We’ve all towed boats before. We’ve just never got the recognition for it before.”