Sailboat Crashes into Jetty Triggering Rescue for Sailor and Pit Bull

A sailboat crashed into the jetty in the dark at Dana Point Harbor, and a seagoing dog was rescued from the surf-washed rocks when its owner returned on a kayak at first light today.

The 28-foot sailboat ran into trouble at about 9:45 p.m. Friday and began to founder on the jetty, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

"Our deputies responded code three, and got the man off the boat," he said. "They looked and looked for his dog, who had been thrown into the water, but they could not find it."

After towing the damaged 28-foot sailboat to a dock inside the harbor, deputies returned to the jetty, but the dog was unwilling to get into the patrol boat.

After sunrise, deputies accompanied the yachtsman to the rocks. The dog, a pit bull, would not get into the patrol boat, but jumped onto the owner's kayak, Amormino said.

"It's a happy story, this dog likes to go kayaking," Amormino said.

The sailboat, however, was severely damaged.

- City News Service