2 Men Rescued After Small Boat Capsizes

Two men fishing near the rocky shores of Anacapa Island were rescued by the Coast Guard on Saturday after a wave capsized their small boat, authorities said.

The 17-foot boat flipped over about 10:30 a.m. on the island’s west side in an area known as Cat Rock, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Dawn Butler.

Neither man was injured.

“They said they were in too close to the shore when a freak wave came in and knocked them over,” Butler said.

The weather was overcast and calm, she said.

The Coast Guard declined to identify the men, except to say one was the boat’s owner, a 43-year-old Santa Paula man, and his passenger, a 36-year-old from Oxnard.

The boat’s owner swam to shore and fired a flare gun, which attracted the attention of people aboard another boat. The captain of that boat radioed the Coast Guard, Butler said.

Meanwhile, the passenger of the capsized boat swam to a rocky outcropping, where he was picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter and transported to a rescue boat.

Both men were taken to a nearby boat carrying friends who had also gone to the island to fish.

The capsized vessel will be hauled to Oxnard by a salvage company, Butler said.