Surfers rescue 6 people after boat capsizes off Santa Cruz coast

SANTA CRUZ — Surfers in Santa Cruz are being lauded as heroes after they swam toward a capsized boat and pulled six injured people onto their boards until emergency crews arrived.

Droves of surfers were catching large waves Feb. 6 at Steamer Lane, a famous point along California’s Central Coast, when a small motor boat barreled by and collided with a wave, throwing two adults and four children into the water. Several of the passengers were not wearing life jackets, according to an incident report from the Santa Cruz Fire Department.

“I basically live at that beach — I’m there almost every day — and that’s one of the craziest things I’ve seen,” said Vince Tuzzi, who was filming the surfers when the boat capsized.

Tuzzi said he knew something was about to go terribly wrong when he saw the fast-moving boat out of the corner of his eye. Afterward he watched as about 10 surfers, two of them just 14 years old, got the people to safety.

Among those who came to the rescue was Darryl “Flea” Virostko, a three-time winner of the Mavericks big wave competition.

“I knew they went down and it was time to paddle in as quickly as possible,” Virostko said in an Instagram post. “Man it feels good to have a surfing community go into action together as one team.”

He said he pulled the adult man onto his board while he cried out for his kids.

Harbor patrol boats and ambulances arrived within minutes, Tuzzi said.

The passengers were taken to the hospital and are recovering, according to fire officials.

Fire Chief Rob Oatey met with some of the surfers this week to thank them for their bravery.