Photo courtesy of LB Marine Safety Department.
Laguna Beach lifeguards rescued four members of an Anaheim family who were on a disabled powerboat Sunday, April 3, when waves pushed it onto a shoreline reef in the early evening.
In an interview Monday, lifeguard Chief Kevin Snow says “they were in a perilous position,” off of Heisler Park at Picnic Beach when lifeguards arrived.
Boat owner Alberto Vumigo took his wife, daughter and infant baby out for a Sunday outing that turned treacherous when their 18-foot vessel lost power. Kelp ensnared the propeller of the outboard motor and the captain was unable to restart the engine.
Snow says wind and waves pushed the vessel onto rocks jutting from the water and in the surfline.
Vumigo and his daughter, who were wearing life jackets, managed to get out of the boat that ran aground on the rocks. Rescuers slid the boat now taking on water off the rocks, through the surfline and into shore, allowing the two remaining passengers to return to land at the sand. Other guards assisted the boat owner and his daughter, stranded on the rocks, Snow said.
Snow said, “they were very fortunate to get on the rock without anything happening.”
actually, there were two passengers in the boat, the man and the child. the boat was crashing on the rocks and the lifeguards were nowhere to be found. a bystander ran out on the rocks and rescued the child from the boat and the man managed to ride the boat to shore after the boat being repeatedly slammed against the rocks. the bystander that rescued the little girl from the boat was assisted by two other beachgoers who followed him out there to assist. then the lifeguards showed up