ROBERT GARDNER -- The Verdict

A group of us were abalone diving on San Clemente Island. We were in two

boats that belonged to Alex Oser -- the Ameo One and the Ameo Two.

Alex had bought the two 35-foot Chris-Craft cruisers to spite a snooty

salesman, but that’s another story.

Lindsay Youngblood, Sam and Charlie Oxarart and I were aboard the Ameo

One, and we had become separated from the Ameo Two. For some reason, we

were towing a dinghy on a long line. Sam Oxarart decided he wanted to

take a ride in the dinghy, so we pulled it up to our boat and Sam got in

carrying an oar with which to steer it.

We started off again and Sam began to steer the dinghy in wide sweeps,

much like water-skiers do. Finally, he took too wide a sweep and brought

the dinghy even with our boat but still at the end of the long line. The

inevitable result was that his line became tangled with our propeller.

At the same time, we were rapidly drifting toward shore -- the shore

being a rocky coast. We brought Sam back on board the Ameo One, and since

I happened to have a knife -- which was heavy enough to use in peeling

abalone off rocks -- I volunteered to go overboard and cut the line loose

so we could avoid crashing onto the rocks.

Before I began, I gave specific instructions that if we came too close to

those rocks and I stood a chance of being squashed between the boat and

the rocks, we were going to follow a certain drill. When I cut the

propeller loose, I would come to the surface, raise my arms, and Sam and

Charlie would yank me out of the water. When Lindsay saw that I was clear

of the water, he would hit the starter button -- but not one second

before I was out of the water. Otherwise, I would be cut up by the

propeller.

I went overboard. The line was really tangled up around the propeller and

I began sawing away at the line. Every time I came to the surface, I

would look over my shoulder and see that we were getting closer to the

rocks, especially one large one. If we drifted into that one, I would be

squashed between the rock and the boat. Alex would also lose a boat,

which he could afford, but I would be a goner.

I finally cut the line loose just in time. I yanked off my face mask,

dropped the knife, raised my arms over my head, gave a big kick with my

swim fins and shot to the surface.

Sam and Charlie did their part. They yanked me out of the water and when

Lindsay saw that I was clear, he hit the starter button and we zoomed

away from the rocks without more than a few feet to spare.

There was one small incident that marred this otherwise smooth operation.

The Oxarart brothers were so enthusiastic that they pulled me up about

six feet into the air and when I landed, I almost broke my nose on the

deck.

* ROBERT GARDNER is a Corona del Mar resident and former judge. His

column runs Tuesdays.