Sailboat Sinks Mysteriously Off La Jolla

A 34-foot sailboat sank mysteriously Wednesday morning about a mile off La Jolla’s Marine Street Beach, authorities said.

No one was aboard the Pokey, and the cause of the sinking is still being investigated, said Lt. Brant Bass of the San Diego Lifeguard Service.

A commercial fisherman put out a call for help on the marine band radio at 7:48 a.m., saying the boat was sinking, Bass said.

The Pokey sank at 8:04 a.m. in about 85 feet of water just as Coast Guard and lifeguard vessels arrived on the scene, Bass said.

A pair of lifeguard divers checked to make sure no one was on board, and a Coast Guard helicopter searched without success for possible survivors, Bass said.

According to the owner of the boat, Tim O’Connor of Orange, the sailboat had been docked at Seaforth Marina in Mission Bay, Bass said.

“Apparently it was stolen, taken up to La Jolla and sunk,” Bass said. Authorities are attempting to determine whether the sinking was accidental or intentional.