Santa Barbara County firefighters rescued a person having a medical emergency while on board a boat off the Gaviota Coast.
A call came in reporting the emergency at 10:31 a.m., and an ocean rescue was conducted to reach the boat, located about 500 yards east of the Gaviota Pier, according to Capt. David Sadecki.
The victim was a 75-year-old man who was enroute to San Diego from San Francisco, and had stopped briefly in Gaviota before reporting the emergency.
Three fire engines, water rescue and dive teams, as well as Santa Barbara County Air Rescue helicopters, responded to the area, along with a fire battalion chief.
He was rescued at 11:12 a.m. when fire crews lowered a firefighter and a Stokes Basket from a helicopter, which lifted the victim off of the 40-foot sailboat.
The man was flown to the Gaviota State Beach Parking Lot, where he was transferred to an ambulance which transported him to the hospital, Sadecki said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.