Derelict Boat, Pickup and the Driver--All Beached

The owner of a derelict boat that capsized just outside Dana Point Harbor on Tuesday was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after he sped across the sand at Doheny Beach State Park in his pickup to reach the tattered, 38-foot vessel that had beached itself on shore, officials said.

Peter Nelson, 58, was arrested shortly after 11 a.m. by park rangers who were inspecting the boat. Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol found the boat floating upside down about 1,000 feet off shore at 7 a.m.

The 57-year-old boat, originally built as a transport vessel for the Navy, was drifting slowly toward the beach. It managed to right itself as it reached shallow water and washed up on the sand, said Harbor Patrol Sgt. J.R. Wilson.

Unable to afford slip fees, Nelson had anchored the vessel outside the harbor for weeks, telling patrol officers he was trying to restore the boat and return it to operating condition, Wilson said.

“Sometime [Monday] night, the high surf took its toll,” he said. “The boat must have taken on some water, capsized and sunk. We’d been trying to help him keep the thing afloat, but it just wasn’t in good shape. It took a pounding.”

When Nelson called harbor patrol officials about 9 a.m., he apparently knew the boat had capsized, Wilson said. The Costa Mesa man was told to contact authorities at Doheny Beach State Park, where the ship was grounded.

Officials said Nelson arrived two hours later in his pickup, which he drove straight down the beach, and was immediately arrested. The boat, which was not salvageable, will be dismantled and hauled to a dump, at a cost of roughly $2,500, Wilson said.

Nelson bought the boat about four months ago.