OXNARD : Man Rescued After Falling Overboard

A 31-year-old boater was rescued by the Coast Guard on Thursday after he fell off his boat and spent seven hours treading water in the open ocean several miles from Channel Islands Harbor.

Oxnard resident Michael Strump fell overboard about 9:30 a.m. while he was trying to change clothes, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Stan Hunt. He was not wearing a life vest.

His boat was found 12 miles away after it had run aground on Santa Cruz Island with the motor still running, Hunt said.

Strump was spotted by a passing commercial fisherman about 4:30 p.m. and officers on a Coast Guard utility boat pulled him, exhausted, from the water about 10 minutes later.

Hunt said Strump was lapsing in and out of consciousness when they brought him ashore.

At St. John’s Regional Medical-Center, he was listed in fair condition and was being treated for hypothermia and severe leg cramps.

Hunt said Strump did not appear to be physically fit, and said he was amazed the man survived the ordeal.

“He didn’t look good at all,” Hunt said. “It must have been an incredible struggle for him to stay above the water. I don’t know how he did it.”