Diver Mourned as Skilled, Helpful

Timothy J. McFadden, a 34-year-old commercial diver from Ventura who died after being pulled from the waters off San Clemente Island last weekend, is being remembered as much for his diving skills as for his willingness to help others.

“You never want to say, ‘God, why couldn’t it have been someone else.’ But, God, why couldn’t it have been someone else?” said Mike Dahan, owner of Channel Islands Scuba in Ventura, who on occasion accompanied McFadden on dives.

McFadden and his partner, Chris Michalik of Ventura, had been diving from McFadden’s 23-foot power boat, Sea Worthy, for three hours Sunday morning near West Cove, on the southwest side of San Clemente Island. At 11:35 a.m. Michalik found his partner drifting unconscious in about 100 feet of water without his mouthpiece.

Michalik said he pulled McFadden aboard the boat, called the Coast Guard and then began CPR. The crew from a second boat, the Pala Wan out of Channel Islands Harbor, also was on the scene and tried to help.

A Coast Guard helicopter airlifted McFadden to Santa Catalina Island, where he was treated in the hyperbaric chamber in Avalon. He was pronounced dead at 12:15 p.m.

McFadden’s body was transferred to Avalon Hospital, and from there to the mainland where an autopsy to determine the cause of death was pending, said Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier.

Word of McFadden’s death quickly spread through the diving community. Dahan said there were few people who did so much for others as McFadden, who owned Seaworthy Marine, a commercial diving and repair company on Arundell Circle in Ventura.

“He was good at making boats work, especially when they had been screwed up by someone else,” Dahan said.

A call Monday to Seaworthy Marine was answered by a man who identified himself only as Pat. “Seaworthy Marine is closed until further notice,” he said.

Asked about McFadden, Pat said: “Tim was a great guy. He was the best. That’s all I can say.”

McFadden was among the many self-employed commercial divers who harvest sea urchins in the Channel Islands area. Some of the divers barely scrape by, and their operations show it, Dahan said. “A lot of those guys are doing it with bubble gum and a prayer. But Tim did it 100%,” he said.

The one thing all the divers have in common is the drive to make money, and there is always a lot to be made this time of year harvesting sea urchins, Dahan said.

“The price goes up during the month of December, so the guys are hungry to go fishing,” said Alfred Ballabio, owner of Pierpont Seafood in Ventura Harbor. “When Tim unloaded here in the Ventura Harbor, he would use my hoist to lift the sea urchins from the boat up onto the dock where his truck was.”

McFadden often worked out of Newport Harbor in Orange County, pulling his boat by trailer from Ventura. Many of his successful dive trips ended with a stop at the D. A. Green seafood processing plant near San Pedro, according to plant manager Eric Lee. There McFadden would sell the spiny sea urchins, which are considered a delicacy at sushi bars, for up to $1.40 per pound, according to Lee.

“We did business with him last year, and then we stopped. And then we started with him again in September,” said Lee, who had hoped to hear from McFadden after the San Clemente Island dive. “He called us up before coming in, and he would bring us 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of sea urchins,” Lee said.

Lee explained that sea urchins are typically served cracked open and cleaned, accompanied by soy sauce and wasabi, which is used like horseradish in Japanese dishes.

“The most important thing is the color. They should be golden yellow. And the firmness. They should be firm,” he said.