MISSING CANOEIST PRESUMED DEAD.Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff WriterThe U.S. Coast Guard called off its search Monday for a missing canoeist whose girlfriend asked him not to go out Sunday morning Sunday Morning may refer to:
Scott Sullenger, 36, of Oxnard was presumed dead after search crews failed to find any sign of him. Sullenger had tried to swim for shore after the 40-foot, Hawaiian-style outrigger outrigger, canoe-type vessel with a wood or bamboo float attached to the side of the craft and extending out over the water. The term outrigger also refers to the float itself. crewed by him and five friends capsized in cold, choppy seas. ``His girlfriend told him yesterday morning, Don't go out, it's too windy, too choppy,'' said Lori Partridge, Sullenger's younger sister. The Coast Guard searched for Sullenger until 2:30 a.m. Monday, then resumed at dawn. Search crews were joined by the Harbor Patrol, state lifeguards and volunteers. The search was suspended again about noon, based on the cold temperature of the air and water, and the ability of an average person to survive in those conditions, said Petty Officer Jim Roche of the Coast Guard. The outrigger's six crew members were wearing shorts and T-shirts when offshore winds gusting to 40 mph and 6-foot swells capsized the craft mid Sunday morning. The team captain, Ben Taitai, 50, and crewmen Justin Heard and Michael Davis Michael Davis or Mike Davis may refer to:
Rico and Heard, 28, were hospitalized with severe hypothermia hypothermia Abnormally low body temperature, with slowing of physiological activity. It is artificially induced (usually with ice baths) for certain surgical procedures and cancer treatments. , but their condition was upgraded Monday to good condition at St. John's Regional Medical Center St. John's Regional Medical Center may refer to: In the United States:
Sullenger, a 1982 graduate of Oxnard High School Oxnard High School, or OHS as it is commonly referred to, is a public four-year high school serving grades 9-12 in Oxnard, California. The school is the oldest in the Oxnard Union High School District, and is the oldest public high school in all of Ventura County. , was the second-youngest child in a family of five boys and three girls. He loved the sea, even heading to the beach before church services, Partridge said. ``He was in the water once a day,'' she said. ``It was just him. He just loved the ocean.'' According to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. , the six men left Silver Strand Beach Silverstrand Beach is an isolated beach neighborhood located in the city of Oxnard, California. It is bounded on the south/southwest by the Pacific Ocean and the waters of the Channel Islands Harbor; on the east by the United States Navy Base at Port Hueneme and on the north by and paddled to an oil platform about three miles from the harbor before rough seas forced them to turn back. After the canoe had taken on water and sunk, Sullenger and Rico left the other four and headed for shore, despite the protestations of Taitai. ``He screamed for Scott not to leave,'' Partridge said. ``Ben said he watched Scott until he couldn't see him.'' Rudy Sullenger, Scott Sullenger's father, said relatives have been questioning how the canoe crew could have gone out without the bright orange life vests that could have kept them afloat while possibly attracting attention more quickly. ``He was so precise in everything, and I'm having a hard time believing that they went out without any flotation equipment at all,'' Rudy Sullenger said. Unlike most sailing vessels, racing canoes like the outrigger are not required to carry life jackets on board, said Andy Jones, a petty officer with the Coast Guard. Family members will always wish searchers could have made one more pass or spent another 10 minutes on the water, but they were grateful for the effort made, Rudy Sullenger said. ``We don't like the end result, but the Coast Guard did a good job for us,'' he said. ``They searched every inch of the area.'' Sunday night 70 volunteers from Rudy and Scott Sullenger's churches combed the beaches from Oxnard to the Ventura County fairgrounds n. pl. 1. same as fairground. to find any trace of their missing friend. ``We were out there for hours,'' said Barbara Rush, youth and children's ministry director at Channel Islands Vineyard, Scott Sullenger's church. ``You realize how huge that ocean is and how helpless you are.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map PHOTO (1) Channel Islands Harbormaster har·bor·mas·ter n. An officer who oversees and enforces the regulations of a harbor. Jack Peveler searches along the beach in Oxnard on Monday for signs of missing canoeist Scott Sullenger. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News (2 -- color) (Ran in CONEJO and SIMI SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative only) Sullenger Map: Site of canoe capsizing |
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