Missing Sailor off Camp Pendleton

Surfer at San Clemente Pier Thursday morning
Photo by David McErlean

At 5:30 Thursday evening, two Navy Sailors from Camp Pendleton were caught in a rip current while swimming near the Del Mar Boat Basin in Southern California. One of the swimmers made it to shore but  the other was sucked out to sea by the strong current.

The sailor that reached the shore quickly ran to call for help.

At 8 p.m. that night, a coast guard cutter and  helicopter crew was launched to start a search and rescue effort. After three hours of searching in the dark, the operation was postponed until first light Friday morning but as a recovery mission. The recovery team of lifeguards, police, coast guard and military search crews are searching from Encinitas to San Onofre for the missing sailor, covering from the shore to two miles out. The search was suspended at 7 p.m. Friday without finding the missing Sailor.

Search area for missing sailor
Graphic by David McErlean

NBC News reports "The missing sailor's name is not being released until his family can be notified, but he is described as corpsman from Kentucky stationed at Camp Pendleton. [Marine Capt. Roger] Hollenbeck also said the missing man was a marathon runner.

"I know this sailor as an incredible athlete," he said, "So, for him to not be able to come out of the water would mean that the current was incredibly swift.""
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Thursday was the arrival of the first big south swell of the summer. With four to six foot surf coming in, it was not a day for anyone to be surfing who is not extremely confident in the water.

Southern California Lifeguards routinely rescue Marines and Navy Sailors from the water. It doesn't matter how good of an athlete you are. If you don't know how to swim out of a rip current, you are going to drown. Michael Phelps himself couldn't out swim a rip current.

To help prevent accidents like this in the future, the Military should think about a beach safety course. If the base is near the ocean, soldiers are going to the beach. With most of them never seeing the ocean before, it is important that they learn about it and all of its dangers.

Anyone with information that could help searchers is asked to call the Coast Guard at (619) 278-7031. The surfer was reportedly wearing a white swimsuit.