Man Killed in Boating Crash; 2 Saved From Cliff

One Orange County man died and another was seriously injured when a boat crashed into rocks near Avalon Harbor on Santa Catalina Island, authorities said Sunday.

To the north, in the waters off Ventura County, national park service rangers rescued two men after their kayak smashed into a large rock near Anacapa Island and sank.

Details of the Santa Catalina accident remained sketchy a day later, but Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators said the victims were part of a small group that had left Newport Beach on Saturday morning for a day of “fun and fishing” near the island.

Alcohol was consumed by adults on board the power boat during the day, authorities said.

At about 6 p.m. Saturday, the fishermen decided to return to the mainland when the boat crashed in Lover’s Cove.

William Golfe, 40, of Newport Beach, was hurled overboard, striking his head on rocks, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said. He was pronounced dead at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach.

Sean Caudillo, 22, of Newport Beach, was in serious condition at the hospital. At least two other people on the boat were treated for minor injuries. They were not identified.

In the Anacapa incident, park rangers maneuvered a small boat between razor-sharp rocks early Sunday to rescue the two men who clung to a cliff wall for eight hours after their kayak smashed against Arch Rock and sank.

The rescuers found the men on the eastern tip of the island about 12:15 a.m., Channel Islands National Park Ranger Steve James said.

The Coast Guard and park rangers circled the island in a helicopter and boats after friends reported that Thomas Buckley, 30, of Fountain Valley and John Zapinski, 30, of Long Beach, had failed to return to their island campsite at 3:30 p.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Clifford Hohl said.

Authorities used spotlights and searched for several hours without finding any sign of the men. Rescuers were minutes away from leaving when rangers spotted wreckage from the 17-foot canvas kayak inside Arch Rock--a picturesque span made famous in postcards and photographs.

“It was pitch black. You could hear them, but you couldn’t see them. It was just by the grace of God that it was calm enough for us to get back in,” James said.

Rescuers helped Buckley and Zapinski climb down a 10-foot cliff covered with “razor-sharp” barnacles and mussels, James said. Both had cuts and mild hypothermia. They were treated at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and released, officials said.