Coast Guard crew rescues sailor, 70
Rescuers say a lone 70-year-old sailor lost all electricity on his 50-foot yacht near Santa Cruz Island and was airlifted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard crew before his vessel ran aground and was destroyed early Friday.
A Coast Guard official said that without electricity the man could not start his auxiliary engine to avoid being blown toward the island.
The official said the sailor was spotted by a Los Angeles-based Coast Guard helicopter crew about half a mile from shore and taken to a hospital to be treated for mild hypothermia.
The yacht’s wreckage was later spotted on the island’s shore.
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