Woman Hurt After Sailboat Runs Aground

VENTURA —  A woman was injured Sunday after a sailboat ran aground and foundered near the mouth of the Santa Clara River at McGrath State Beach, police said.

According to authorities, three adults and a boy were aboard the 20-foot sailboat and traveling down the coast when they ran onto a sandbar at the south end of the river mouth about 3 p.m.

Heavy surf and gale-force winds above 35 knots helped tip the boat, dumping some of the passengers into the water.

All of them made it to shore safely and were huddled together amid the driftwood when authorities arrived.

One woman received slight injuries to her legs, back and head. She was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center. Her condition was unknown late Sunday.

No other injuries were reported.

Though weather was not immediately blamed for the accident, a small-craft advisory was issued for the Ventura coastline Sunday until midnight because of high onshore winds and a 3- to 5-foot swell.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Oxnard said the winds should diminish overnight and remain at about 20 knots today.

The swell is expected to decrease Tuesday, with no other swells predicted for the next two days.

Rangers at the beach said that heavy rains over the past few months have washed thousands on tons of sand and dirt into the ocean, which have extended the shallows of silt more than 300 yards offshore.