HUNTINGTON BEACH : Coast Guard Saves Boy, 8, From Ocean

An 8-year-old Huntington Beach boy was plucked from the ocean by a Coast Guard boat after he was swept out to sea and trapped near some rocks off the Oregon shore, a Coast Guard spokesman said Thursday.

Peter Dunbar, who was on a beach outing with a group of friends Wednesday, was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released, Petty Officer Randy Sharp said.

Dunbar was swimming in relatively large, six-foot surf on a foam body board when a powerful rip current washed him seaward, Sharp said. His friends swam in and asked a resident to notify rescue officials.

Dunbar was wearing a wet suit that was too big for him, and it filled with water, hampering the boy’s ability to swim, Sharp said. The boy did have fins, he said.

“By the time our boat got to him, he had taken in lots of water. He was conscious and OK, but he was very scared,” Sharp said.

Dunbar was visiting a grandfather, Ted Tiegen of Lincoln Beach. Relatives declined to comment about the incident.