3 Young Boaters Rescued After Night Adrift in Fog

What started as a simple day trip to Santa Catalina Island ended as a frightening ordeal for three young men from Orange County who became lost in fog and drifted at sea for miles before being rescued.

With the sun shining brightly Wednesday afternoon, Jeffrey White, 25, and his brother Michael White, 20, both of Santa Ana, decided to take their family’s 20-foot ski boat to Catalina. They were joined by a friend, Andy Baily, 20, of Orange.

They launched the boat, called Beer Money, from Newport Bay and made it to the island in about an hour and a half.

“It was easy getting there, but on the way back, that’s a different story,” Jeffrey White said.

About 6 p.m. the White brothers called their mother to say they were leaving Catalina and would be home in a couple of hours.

But on the way back, fog rolled in and so did trouble. “We got totally lost. We couldn’t see where we were going and we didn’t have a radio. All we had was a $2 compass that would point in the same direction (White was pointing) even when I made a complete circle,” Jeffrey White said.

At 2:17 a.m. Thursday, Anne White called the Coast Guard to say that she thought her sons were lost at sea.

The Coast Guard searched the waters with an 82-foot cruiser during the early morning darkness. At daybreak they used a helicopter to aid in the search.

Through the night, the three boaters were cold, hungry and thinking that it might be days before they would be rescued, Jeffrey White said.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life. My brother kept saying, ‘Get me out of this mess you got me into,’ ” he said.

At 12:15 p.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard received a call from Camp Pendleton Marine Base saying the boat and its occupants where spotted off Oceanside.

A navy ship towed Beer Money to port in Oceanside. Several hours later Anne White picked up her sons and their friend at the harbor.

“I think I learned my lesson,” Jeffrey White said. “The sea will fool you.”