LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have rescued a man who was thrown out of his boat and was treading water five miles off the Southern California coast.
The Coast Guard says it received a call Thursday morning about an unmanned, 14-foot boat that was moving in circles miles off the Long Beach coast.
An air and sea search began and a Los Angeles County sheriff's rescue helicopter finally spotted a man in the water about two miles from the boat. He had no life jacket.
The man was uninjured. He told rescuers that he fell off the boat when it hit a wave and had been using flip-flops on his hands to tread water for about 20 minutes.