Offshore Ordeal

They came to surf, delighting in the 10- to 12-foot waves pounding the Ventura County coast Tuesday.

Before long, though, Casey Schmitt and Mark Collins were catching a wave to a capsized boat and rescuing two men stranded in the heavy surf.

“They were barely hanging on,” Schmitt said after he and Collins pulled the two men to shore. “They would have never made it in.”

With no life jackets, Emil Mahl, 58, of Ojai, and Dean Williams, 59, of Ventura, were helpless in the tumultuous 56-degree waters when their 20-foot boat capsized under a large wave just off Solimar Beach.

Seasick, cold and tired, Mahl and Williams were hoisted onto the surfboards and paddled ashore.

“One man told me that there was no way he could have gotten out by himself,” said Ventura County Fire Capt. Martin O’Malley, who arrived at the scene just north of Ventura with other emergency officials as Schmitt, Collins and other surfers tugged the two men onto the beach.

“They had only minor injuries but were really cold, shaken and exhausted,” O’Malley said.

Williams was taken to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura but was not admitted, officials said. Mahl was not treated but accompanied his friend to the hospital.

The boat overturned just after noon on a reef about a quarter mile off Solimar.

Schmitt said he and Collins were lucky to be there.

“It was a bad situation, but it could have been worse,” said Schmitt, 29, of Solimar. “They could have not come up.”

Schmitt and Collins, 25, of Ventura, said they saw the two fishermen waving as they passed the popular surf break in their boat.

The surfers watched as the boaters tried to turn the craft around near the reef. The boat was immediately walloped on the side by a 6-foot wave and flipped over.

“We kind of knew it was going to happen,” Schmitt said. “They were just in the wrong spot.”

Schmitt and Collins, who were out beyond the break, were able to catch a wave and surf right to the capsized fishermen.

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Coast Guard officials, meteorologists and harbor officials said the strong seas were churned by a series of storms moving across Northern California.

As on Tuesday morning, officials expect tides three to four feet above normal this morning, but expect little flooding in residential areas along the shoreline.

“If the waves stay at the heights we’re predicting, we’re not expecting any problems,” said county fire spokesman Dave Traub.

Tuesday’s waves caused only minor flooding in isolated portions of the Pierpont neighborhood of Ventura, officials said.

At San Buenaventura State Beach, lifeguards said the waves drew the usual slew of surfers, but led to only one minor rescue, with no injuries.

State lifeguards said the high surf is expected to remain throughout the week and may intensify Friday.

Lifeguards took a preventive approach Tuesday, warning surfers about the dangerous surf, high tides and strong currents, state lifeguard John Regan said.

At Ventura Harbor, Deputy Harbor Master Bob Wallen said boating traffic was nearly nonexistent.

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“It’s been very quiet,” he said. “The boats that did go out went around and came back in.”

Despite the large swells, no boating or small-craft advisories were in effect in the Santa Barbara Channel, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jim Roach.

Small-craft advisories of hazardous seas were posted for the waters past the Channel Islands, where northwest swells averaged 12 feet, Roach said.

The National Weather Service predicts a chance of rain beginning tonight and lasting through most of Thursday.

Correspondent Dawn Hobbs contributed to this story.