19 hours ago
Man thrown from boat rescued after clinging to buoy all night off SLO County coast
A man who was thrown from his boat and then spent the night clinging to a buoy for almost seven hours offshore from Morro Rock was spotted by a fisherman and rescued early Saturday morning.
According to an Instagram post from the Morro Bay Police Department, John Gsell, 29, told police his boat was struck by an object at 10 p.m. on Friday, sending him overboard into the frigid ocean.
Gsell said after that, his boat drifted off into the sea, and he was unable to reach it. After spotting the silhouette of Morro Rock in the distance, he attempted to swim toward it, the department said.
After an hour of swimming, Gsell located a nearby buoy to which he clung for nearly seven hours — accompanied by a group of seals, police said.
The U.S. Coast Guard first found the unattended boat, which was 'motoring in circles' roughly a quarter mile from the Morro Strand State Beach. The agency notified police that it seemed as though someone had fallen overboard.
Then at about 6:45 a.m., an unidentified local fisherman spotted Gsell clinging to the buoy about a mile away from Morro Rock.
'We thank the local fisherman for his early departure out of the Morro Bay Harbor and good luck in driving towards Gsell, most likely saving his life and reuniting him with his loved one,' the Police Department said.
Police also noted that Gsell's past service as a Marine helped him to stay calm while he waited for rescue.
'Gsell noted the doubt that went through his mind of giving up in the cold water, but being a prior United States Marine, he was not going to give up easily,' the Police Department said. 'We are grateful for his mental mindset in this life-changing incident to not give up and save his own life.'
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