NEWPORT BEACH : Captain Dies in Fall While Water Skiing

David Scott (Woody) Pollak, a well-known captain with a local marine assistance company, was killed Tuesday in a water-skiing accident two miles off Crystal Cove, the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol said.

Ironically, the effort to save the 34-year-old captain’s life was similar to efforts Pollak himself had participated in with his firm, Costa Mesa-based Vessel Assist.

Pollak of Newport Beach was free-boarding (water skiing on a board) behind the Vessel Assist 1 when he fell at 11:45 a.m., according to Lt. Dick Olson. When the 30-foot boat circled back for him, he was floating face-down in the water.

Two friends aboard, Bob Upson Jr. of Costa Mesa and Robert Elston of Irvine, sent a Mayday call on the boat’s marine radio while administering CPR, Olson said.

Both the Harbor Patrol and the Newport Beach Fire Department’s fireboat arrived and medical personnel administered aid to Pollak, Olson said. Pollak was taken to Hoag Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just after 1 p.m. The cause of death was not immediately known, but an autopsy will be performed today.

“Woody was very well-known throughout the harbor area for his assistance to boats contracting for his help,” Olson said. “He was also very well-known to the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol deputies along the Orange County coast and well respected for his professional expertise and friendly manner. He will be greatly missed.”

Last August, when two Marine Corps helicopter collided off Santa Catalina Island, Pollak helped in the rescue of the four surviving crew members, leaving his vessel to take over another rescue boat where medical aid was being administered to survivors.

Pollak’s “willingness to assume the responsibility of boat operator of the Baywatch Avalon rescue boat made it possible for an additional paramedic on board the fishing vessel ‘De Brum’ and help in the rescue effort and stabilization of those who were injured,” wrote Stan Wisniewski and Don Rohrer, of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.

“It is good to know that in an emergency, there are people like Captain Pollak who are willing to render aid and volunteer their services,” the lifeguards wrote.