Lone survivor of capsized boat recounts harrowing ordeal

BODEGA BAY, Calif. -- A commercial angler who was the lone survivor of a boat accident that killed four of his friends off the coast of Northern California says he lived by swimming for 25 minutes in cold waters to a rocky shore.

Three men and a woman died Saturday during a crabbing expedition when a sneaker wave slammed into their 32-foot boat and capsized it near Bodega Bay, about 70 miles north of San Francisco, on the Sonoma Coast.

Phillip Sanchez, 66, of Bodega Bay, told KGO-TV that his determination kept him alive.

"I just knew I had to get there if I was going to make it," he said of swimming through 59-degree water to land. He cut his arm severely and was airlifted to a hospital but did not suffer serious injuries.

A sheriff's office helicopter used a long line to rescue Sanchez, who was clinging to the rock, CBS San Francisco reports.

Sanchez said he feels lucky to be alive, but survivor's guilt weighs on him.

"I got to deal with the guilt, why me? That's the hardest part," he told the television station.

Sanchez did not see the wave coming, and in a matter of seconds his friends were gone. No one was wearing a life vest.

"We're commercial fisherman. Nobody wears 'em," Sanchez said.

Killed were: Jessie Daniel Langley, 79, and Sam Garcia, 86, both of Bodega Bay, and David Costa, 60, of Ripon. The fourth victim's identity has not been released.

Garcia's widow, Judy, said she went out fishing with her husband for years and never wore a life jacket.

The Coast Guard is investigating the accident.