Stardust Sportfishing crew nabs couple in ocean rescue

A Santa Barbara fishing crew notorious for reeling in big catches hooked something newsworthy Easter Sunday– two kayakers, drifting miles off the coast of Goleta.

Facebook video of the rescue was sent to NewsChannel 3.

It shows the Stardust Sportfishing crew throwing a life ring over the side of the boat to a man and a woman, bobbing in the ocean with their hobbled kayak drifting in the background.

Once on the boat, the couple repeatedly thanked the crew for saving their lives.

NewsChannel 3 talked to Jason Diamond and his wife Jamie, owners of the Stardust, Monday afternoon by phone.

“They put the guy on first,” Jason Diamond said. “He was exhausted, bobbing to the point where his head was going under.”

Diamond credited his crew, Larry Spurlock, Christian Geisler as well as Cory Scott and Lewis Turner, for making the heroic ocean rescue roughly three miles out from Devereaux and Isla Vista — not far from Platform Holly.

“They were out there,” Diamond said. “No lifejackets.”

Diamond suspects the couple’s kayak had a small hole and was taking on water.

“We do these drills all the time,” Diamond said. “That was just a good textbook save. Those guys did a great job.”