CALIFORNIA: Three Surfers Rescued in Santa Cruz County Amid Powerful Surf
Fire officials described a jet-ski rescue in which a wave overturned the craft before the rescuer righted it and brought a surfer to safety Saturday.
Three surfers were rescued in the Santa Cruz County area of California on Saturday as powerful surf drew people into the water and spectators to the coast, according to reports citing fire officials.
Central Fire Chief Nigel Miller said most of the surfers paddling out were highly skilled, but the combination of large waves and pleasant weather brought unusually large crowds to the shoreline.
In one rescue, an aquatic response team member used a jet ski to reach a surfer who had tried to climb onto rocks to leave the water. The surfer's leash broke, allowing his board to drift away.
While the rescuer was taking the surfer toward a safer exit, a wave struck the jet ski and flipped it over, Miller said. The rescuer was able to right the craft, get back underway with the surfer and take him to another location where he could get out of the water.
Miller also said that no homes or foundations had been lost to the high surf and that the area's wharfs remained intact at the time of his account.
The photograph is an earlier Mavericks surfing scene, not a photograph of Saturday's rescues.