LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Wilson was being treated for hypothermia and exhaustion Feb. 18 after being pulled from the stormy ocean off Ventura County a day earlier, telling Coast Guard rescuers he’d been in the water five hours since a wave knocked him off his boat.

Wilson, 55, of Santa Maria, intended to take his 35-foot Viking powerboat Gray Light from Channel Islands Harbor to the west end of Anacapa Island about a dozen miles offshore in preparation for selling the vessel, according to his report to the Coast Guard.

He said he put the boat on autopilot to do some work when he was knocked into the water by a wave at about 9 a.m. and the boat motored away, leaving him in 6-foot swells.

Wearing only a T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes, Wilson swam until he was spotted by workers on an offshore oil platform, the Coast Guard report said. The platform crew lowered a ladder but he was unable to lift himself out of the water.

A Coast Guard helicopter from Los Angeles dropped a rescue swimmer, keeping Wilson afloat until a boat from the Channel Islands Coast Guard station arrived. He was finally pulled from the water at about 2 p.m., said Petty Officer 1st Class Kenny Cook, who was at the scene.

A lifeguard in his youth and a member of the San Luis Yacht Club, Wilson was described as a lifelong boater and avid fisherman.

Lt. j.g. Stephanie Young told The Log News Service Feb. 24 that the Coast Guard had received a report Feb. 23 in response to a Safety Notice to Mariners that Wilson’s boat had been sighted 70 nautical miles southwest of San Clemente Island. A Vessel Assist boat was dispatched and the boat was towed to San Diego, Young said.

— The Log News Service
contributed to this report.