2 students rescued near Isla Vista aboard boat made of buckets, kiddie pools

Two mariners with questionable nautical sense were saved from the ocean near Isla Vista early Saturday aboard their homemade boat constructed from buckets and kiddie pools, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

It was one of two water rescues Saturday morning.

The male non-engineering students, who are in their early 20s, crafted a makeshift boat from 20 Home Depot buckets, two plastic kiddie pools, plywood and duct tape, said Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason.

The pair headed off to sea near Camino Del Sur and Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista.

They had a paddle, but lacked wetsuits for the voyage in the ocean where seas were calm but water temperatures were approximately 55 degrees, Eliason said.

“The tide kept pushing them further and further from shore approximately — 300 yards before County Fire was summoned,” Eliason said.

Notified at approximately 2 a.m., county fire dispatched water rescue team members from Isla Vista. Two personal watercraft also were launched near UCSB Campus Point.

Firefighters made contact with the wayward mariners about 30 minutes later, and brought the pair safely to shore with no injuries.

“The two young mariners who fashioned their own water craft were very fortunate that someone saw them, that they were out at sea, and notified authorities, as they were unable to make their way back to shore in their boat made of made of plastic buckets and kiddie pools,” Eliason added.

Alcohol was not a factor in the bad boating decisions, firefighters said.

In a second early morning water rescue, a man in his 60s was lucky to be alive after he became trapped under the Goleta Beach Pier, Eliason said.

Firefighters responded just before 4 a.m. to the pier, where the man was wedged between two of the wooden pilings. He was trapped near the boat hoist, about three-quarters of the way along the 1,500-foot-long pier.

The man said he had been calling for help for several hours before being discovered by those aboard a boat carrying workers from an offshore oil platform.

He was brought to shore within 20 minutes and assessed by firefighters and paramedics before being transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital via an American Medical Response ambulance for treatment of hypothermia, Eliason said.

This story was originally published May 8, 2021 at 3:40 PM.