WILSON, James C.
WILSON, James C. ( -1964);
In the News~
May 4, 1964 [LAT]: “Father, 3 sons feared lost in boat accident. A Goleta man and his three sons were believed drowned after their 17-ft. outboard cabin cruiser was found capsized in choppy, wind-lashed waters Sunday. Their partly submerged craft was spotted 3 miles southeast of Anacapa Island by a Coast Guard aircraft. An Israeli freighter was diverted to the site and crew men found four life preservers in the boat. Coast Guard officers at Santa Barbara said that James C. Wilson, 5673 Marbury Dr., and his sons, 11-year-old twins and 13, disappeared Saturday enroute to Santa Cruz Island. While Coast Guard amphibious aircraft and a helicopter scoured the area until sundown Sunday, a cutter was dispatched from Santa Barbara to tow the boat in. Along with the rough seas searchers had to contend with winds up to 35 m.p.h. Adverse weather continued to hamper recreation-minded weekenders throughout the state...”
May 4, 1964 [Lompoc Record]: “Four believed drowned as search called off. Coast Guard this morning called off its sea and air search for a Goleta father and three sons presumed drowned during the weekend after their 17-ft. outboard cabin cruiser was found capsized in the ocean near Anacapa Island. The father was identified as James W> Wilson, 30, an engineer for the American Machine & Foundry Co. of Santa Barbara. He and three of his sons were reported missing to the Coast Guard at 7 p.m. Saturday. The four had left at 7:30 a.m. Saturday for Santa Cruz Island on a fishing expedition. Their boat had a 40 h.p. engine. The Coast Guard set out in search in rough water in the 95-ft. patrol boat Cape Sable and remained out five hours in darkness without sighting the Wilson boat. At daybreak yesterday, and all-day air and sea search was started and the capsized Wilson boat was located about 11 a.m. some four miles southeast of Anacapa Island. The Coast Guard was unable to right the boat and towed it some 35 miles to Santa Barbara. Five life preservers were accounted for, four in the boat and one in the water. Meanwhile three light aircraft and two helicopters combed a land and ocean area from Santa Barbara to four miles southeast of Anacapa Island with the helicopters dropping to within a few hundred feet of the shoreline of the islands.”
May 4, 1964 [Desert Sun]: “Santa Barbara. A father and three sons were presumed drowned during the weekend after their 17-foot outboard cabin cruiser was found capsized in the ocean near Anacapa Island. James C. Wilson, a geologist of nearby Goleta and the boys — 11-year-old twins and a 13-year-old were last seen Saturday as they left on a trip to Santa Cruz Island to study rock formations.”
