Rescue Crews Search Ocean for Jet Skier

U.S. Coast Guard rescue crews outfitted with night vision goggles searched Monday night for a Dana Point man whose Jet Ski broke down between Santa Catalina Island and the coast.

John MacIntyre called a commercial marine assistance company from his Jet Ski on a cellular phone about 5:30 p.m., several hours after he left Avalon for a return trip to Dana Point, Coast Guard search and rescue coordinator John Howk said.

But despite a 3 1/2-hour search by a Coast Guard helicopter whose searchlights swept the waters between Dana Point and Newport Harbor--joined about 8:30 p.m. by a Los Angeles-based Coast Guard rescue vessel--the man had not been found by 9:30 p.m., Howk said. The Coast Guard would continue searching all night if necessary, he said.

“We have a good moon out there; there’s really a lot of ambient light,” Howk said, describing the favorable search conditions as “awesome.”

MacIntyre spoke by phone with the commercial assistance company for about an hour while Coast Guard crews searched for him, but his cell phone battery apparently gave out, Howk said.

The 5:30 call to the assistance company was his second of the day, Howk said. A boat from the company had helped MacIntyre refuel in waters just off Avalon about noon, after his Jet Ski ran out of gas after he left for the trip home, Howk said.

Commercial assistance companies are to pleasure boaters what the Automobile Assn. of America is to motorists. For the price of a membership fee, they respond to distress calls.

Howk said the company contacted the Coast Guard soon after MacIntyre’s call came in, because it is not equipped to do night rescues or to search for vessels over a broad expanse of water.

Howk could not confirm the spelling of MacIntyre’s name.

MacIntyre told dispatchers from the rescue company that he was wearing a wetsuit and a life jacket, which Coast Guard officials said will probably protect him from the elements. But he did not have a flashlight, signal flares or radio.

“You wouldn’t think it, but it’s common for people to Jet Ski out to Catalina and back, especially during the summer months,” Howk said. In the past five years, the Coast Guard has rescued about a dozen people a year who have gotten into trouble making the hourlong trip, Howk said.

But Howk said it was rare for a Jet Skier to be stranded in the ocean at night.