Unmanned sailboat washes up by RB pier
The Seeya washed up by the Redondo pier late Friday afternoon. Searcher found a sailor three hours later two miles offshore but where unable to revive him. Photo by John Hadden
A boat with nobody aboard washed up near the Redondo Beach pier late Friday afternoon. Three hours later a search party discovered a man afloat two miles out at sea, but rescuers were unable to revive him.
Richard Barras, 59, from Hermosa Beach, was declared dead at 8:15 p.m.
The search for the then-unidentified sailor began about 5:30 p.m. when the 24-foot Seeya showed up unattended along the Redondo shore. The Redondo Beach Police Department and Harbor Patrol were assisted by Los Angeles County Lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard, which eventually sent out a helicopter to assist in a “grid search” of local waters.
RBPD Sgt. Phil Keenan said the boat’s autopilot was engaged when it was boarded near the shore by rescuers.
“That’s quite common when people go fishing, when they go down below decks,” Keenan said.
Police used the boat’s identification number to discover who owned it. Relatives confirmed that Barra had gone out fishing that afternoon, Keenan said.
“So from there we were pretty confident that this was the guy we were searching for,” he said. “Then, of course, at about 8:15 p.m. we find him about two miles out, floating. Someone felt a little pulse on him and they started CPR, but he didn’t make it.”
A helicopter crew spotted Barra, and a harbor patrol boat brought him in from the water.
“It’s happened before,” Keenan said. “People fall off their boats. What happens is they swim for quite a while, but the water is extremely cold right now. After a few hours, or less, in the water, they aren’t able to swim anymore because their body stops functioning.”
Reports indicated Barras was not wearing a life preserver. ER