Fisherman Swept to His Death, Two Others Lost at Point Mugu

A surf fisherman was swept to his death and two others were swept away when they tried to rescue him from 10-foot ocean waves rolling in on Point Mugu Sunday.

The body of the unidentified fisherman was recovered from the sea by the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter that was sent to the area after the 7 p.m. mishap.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Gullon said several men were fishing from rocks just below Point Mugu when an especially large set of waves knocked one from his footing and into the water.

Two other surf fishermen scrambled to help him, and were also swept into the sea.

The Coast Guard cutter and a helicopter combined forces with Ventura County lifeguards, searching the area for the two missing men as darkness fell. None of the three was immediately identified.

It was only the latest in a series of deaths and injuries attributed to the waves, spawned by a major storm system in Antarctica, that began hitting California beaches over the weekend.

Two men and a woman were missing Sunday after rough surf swept them out to sea in separate incidents at two beaches north of Santa Cruz.

A Coast Guard spokesman said one of the men had been climbing on rocks at Laguna Creek Beach when he was hit by a wave and fell into the surf, and a friend who rushed to help him was also dragged into the water. The woman was swept to her death at Scott Creek Beach.

On Saturday, an Orange County teen-ager drowned after she was knocked down by a large wave at Newport Beach. Police said Jeanne Veenstra, 19, was “struck by a large wave and went under” while walking in the surf.