Sailboat Sinks in Effort to Rescue Sloop on Rocks at Coronado Island

A 50-foot sailboat sank in the treacherous waters off the southern end of Coronado Island on Wednesday night after trying to rescue a sloop that had run aground, Coast Guard officials said.

A third vessel, the Mikinbi, issued a Mayday for the two boats about 8:50 p.m. The Mikinbi picked up the two passengers from the doomed Capt. Kenneth/Lady Gail shortly before it sank.

A Coast Guard helicopter later picked up the crew of the Sonrisa, a 27-foot sloop that hit the rocky shoreline first. The 82-foot cutter Point Brower towed the vessel to San Diego, said Lincoln Benedict, commanding officer of the Point Brower.

Traveling Together

According to John Nesbitt, 49, owner and operator of the Sonrisa, the three vessels were traveling together to spend a few days around the Coronado Islands. About 8:30 p.m., they began looking for an inlet to anchor for the night when the wind whipped up.

Nesbitt “had his sails down and was motoring toward the shore when he hit something or ran over something and lost horsepower,” Benedict said. “He was washed up on the rocks.”

Kenneth Lindroth of Chula Vista, owner of the Capt. Kenneth/Lady Gray, went to help the Sonrisa, but he, too, lost horsepower for some reason, and his sailboat was swept onto the rocks also, Benedict said.

The Capt. Kenneth/Lady Gray sank shortly after.

No one was seriously injured in the accident, but Pat Parvu, 48, a passenger on the Sonrisa, suffered a minor leg injury while jumping to shore. He was brought by the Coast Guard to a San Diego hospital.

Lindroth and his wife, Gail, remained with the passengers of the Mikinbi to try to arrange salvage of the boat.