VESSEL ASSIST ASSOCIATION IS BOATER'S AUTO CLUB.Byline: Jeremy Bagott Daily News Staff Writer There comes a time in a Coast Guard operation when a rescued boater becomes a polluter and the wreck, the pollutant. From the Coast Guard's perspective, it might even be better if the crippled craft runs aground a·ground adv. & adj. 1. Onto or on a shore, reef, or the bottom of a body of water: a ship that ran aground; a ship aground offshore. 2. . Otherwise, it becomes a hazard to navigation. Either way, the salvage of the vessel falls upon the owner. But the wreck will be governed by admiralty law admiralty law: see maritime law. and the rights of salvage, meaning anyone can salvage it without the owner's permission. Trust the Channel Islands National Park Channel Islands National Park: see Santa Barbara Islands; National Parks and Monuments (table). on the urgency of the matter. ``The Park Service gets really testy tes·ty adj. tes·ti·er, tes·ti·est Irritated, impatient, or exasperated; peevish: a testy cab driver; a testy refusal to help. ,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Mark Steinhilber of Coast Guard Group Long Beach's Department of Investigations. ``Maybe (the owner) hasn't been maintaining the boat. Maybe he's made poor decisions. Maybe he's a victim of circumstance. It doesn't matter. He has to deal with the wreckage.'' Enter the Vessel Assist Association, the boating equivalent of the Auto Club. Dave Delano, the Vessel Assist contractor from Point Dume Point Dume is a point on the coast of Malibu, California. Point Dume forms the northern end of the Santa Monica Bay, and Point Dume Headlands Park affords a vista of stretching to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Santa Catalina Island. to Point Conception Point Conception extends into the Pacific Ocean in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. Two ocean channels meet around it, making a natural division between Southern and Central California.[1] The Point Conception Lighthouse is at its tip. , was monitoring the Santa Cruz Island San·ta Cruz Island An island off southern California in the northern Santa Barbara Islands. rescue on that uncloudy September Saturday from his base station in Ventura's Harbor Village. At 11:56 a.m., 45 minutes after the initial distress call, Delano was contacted by the men involved in the incident. Delano and his daughter, Kathy, motored to the scene in their 33-foot salvage boat. On the beach in Smuggler's Cove, the capsized boat was taking a pounding in the surf line. ``I knew the boat would be ground up in the surf unless something was done right away,'' said Channel Islands National Park Ranger Darcy MacDonald, who assisted the boaters after they swam ashore. ``A boat will fill with sand after a while. We tried to flip it over, but it was too heavy.'' While they waited the two hours for Vessel Assist to arrive, the two rescued men were assisted by MacDonald in gathering their belongings, which were strewn strew tr.v. strewed, strewn or strewed, strew·ing, strews 1. To spread here and there; scatter: strewing flowers down the aisle. 2. across the beach. They even salvaged lunch from the debris - a bag of potato chips, oranges and a soda. Vessel Assist skipper Dave Delano anchored at the surf line. Kathy Delano went over the side and swam to the beach with a waterproof hand-held radio and one end of 1,000 feet of ski line. The boaters were then pulled off the beach inside their righted boat and transferred to the Delanos' vessel for some hot coffee on the way back to the mainland - a ride home they never expected but for which they were grateful. |
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