Jet Skier Safe After Night Adrift Off San Onofre : Rescue: A commercial fishing crew finds the Trabuco Canyon man, who had run out of gas on a return trip from Catalina.

A Trabuco Canyon man who disappeared Friday after leaving Santa Catalina Island on a jet ski was rescued by the crew of a commercial fishing vessel Saturday morning, Coast Guard officials said.

A seemingly healthy Mark Walker, 39, was perched atop his two-seat motor craft and drifting in the water when he was spotted by crew members of the Epco shortly before 9 a.m., Coast Guard Lt. John Schmill said.

Although he spent the night floating in the Pacific Ocean, the avid jet skier was in good condition when crew members picked him up about 12 1/2 miles off San Onofre, Schmill said.

“He doesn’t appear to be too worse for wear,” Schmill said.

Authorities believe Walker ran out of gas while trying to make the 32-mile crossing between Catalina and Dana Point.

“He said he made it within three miles of Dana Point before he ran out of gas at 3:30 p.m.,” said Walker’s wife, Valerie, after she talked with her husband Saturday morning. “He said he just sat on (the jet ski) and floated all night. He also said he saw helicopters going over him in the night but he had no lights on the craft.”

Walker was offered a helicopter airlift to John Wayne Airport but declined, Schmill said. He was transported with his Sea-Doo jet ski to San Diego with the fishing crew.

The construction worker’s ordeal began when he left the island about 1:30 p.m. Friday headed back to Dana Point across the channel, officials said.

That morning, Walker had successfully made the trip from Dana Point to Avalon, the biggest town on the island. But he had very little gas in his tank when he arrived.

Then, on the island, Walker lost his backpack and wallet.

Harbor Patrol authorities, who said they had no idea Walker was planning to cross the channel to Dana Point, provided him with fuel but only filled the tank to about 60% capacity. The average jet ski holds enough gasoline for about 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours of use depending on speed of travel, authorities said.

Officials guessed the jet skier had run out of gas but were not sure what happened.

Valerie Walker, 28, said she was nervous about the jet-ski trip from the beginning, but she relaxed after hearing a taped telephone message from friends that her husband had crossed the Catalina channel safely Friday morning.

“He called a friend at about 12:30 p.m. and said he had made it across and it was a piece of cake,” she said.

A second message on the answering machine was from the Harbor Patrol, Valerie Walker said, relaying a request from her husband to meet him at Dana Point at 3 p.m. Friday with a set of car keys because his wallet and backpack had been stolen.

After waiting about 30 minutes, she began to get nervous about her husband’s safety, but when she called the Harbor Patrol they told her to wait about another hour and a half before reporting him as missing.

“At 4 o’clock I started getting concerned, and a man at the dock told me that he (Walker) was crazy if he thought it would only take him an hour to cross,” she said.

“But,” she added, at about 5 o’clock I called the Harbor Patrol back again.”

The Coast Guard dispatched two helicopters, two small planes, a Falcon jet, three cutters and a patrol boat to hunt for the man.

Vessels from Avalon, Newport Beach, Dana Point and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department participated in the search, and mariners in the area had also been alerted to watch for Walker.

The search lasted until midnight and resumed at daybreak Saturday, officials said.

Rescue workers were concerned that Walker and his craft might be drifting in the middle of the channel during the night, where it could be run over by another vessel.

The jet skier warded off serious injury by wearing a wet suit to help retain his body heat and a life jacket, Schmill said.

“Water really takes temperature away from you very fast,” he said.

“There’s always the risk of hypothermia, with the body temperature getting too low, and of course having the jet ski to sit on helped.”

Valerie Walker said she is relieved that her husband was not harmed.

“I talked to him, he’s fine,” she said. “He’s acting like this wasn’t a big deal at all. “He wants me to bring him clothes and cancel his credit cards.”