Search for O.C. Man Suspended

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Monday for an Anaheim Hills man who was swept off the deck of a 42-foot sailboat during heavy seas Sunday afternoon.

Marlin Weach, 63, fell overboard at about 3:30 p.m., five miles south of Los Angeles Harbor, said U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Liz Brannan.

Weach’s sailing companion, Robert Bartlett, 45, also of Anaheim Hills, fell overboard when he tried to get a life ring to Weach, Brannan said.

Bartlett swam to the harbor breakwater, where he was rescued Sunday night and taken to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. A hospital spokesman said Bartlett was in fair condition after being treated for hypothermia and ingestion of seawater.

Bartlett’s wife, who did not give her name, said: “We’re all right, and that’s all I’d like to say right now.”

Coast Guard officials said they would resume the search if they received word of a possible sighting of Weach, who was wearing white pants and a blue jacket. Weach and Bartlett were sailing in a Catalina sailboat called the Mona Esprit, which was kept at the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro.

About 1 a.m. Monday, crew members aboard a commercial tanker ship found the Mona Esprit not far from where the men fell overboard. The boat was towed to the Coast Guard’s facility at Terminal Island before being towed to the Cabrillo Marina, according to Petty Officer Brenda Toledo.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew and several rescue boats searched the San Pedro Channel and the area up to 15 miles from the harbor entrance for 15 hours before suspending the search about 1 p.m.