The crash was reported at 4:25 p.m. Tuesday from the area of the Glenhaven Beach Resort in Glenhaven, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
He said emergency personnel from the sheriff's office responded both by water and land, with rescue personnel from the Northshore Fire Protection District, Lake County Fire Protection District and Cal Fire also responding.
A deputy assigned to the Clearlake Oaks area was the first on scene. Bauman said he found a 24-foot Blue Water power boat that had run aground on some rocks and crashed into a seawall in the area of the resort, Bauman said.
The vessel’s operator, 59-year-old James Wickersham of Lucerne, was found still on board, and had sustained major injuries. Bauman said the vessel had extensive damage and Wickersham had sustained major injuries.
Wickersham ultimately was flown out of county to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by a REACH air ambulance for treatment, according to Bauman's report.
A passenger on the boat, 54-year-old Natasha Young of San Ramon, had apparently been ejected from the vessel and into the lake prior to it crashing into the rocks and seawall, Bauman said.
Young was pulled from the water by an unidentified boater on a personal water craft in the area. Bauman said she was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital with minor injuries and later released.
Bauman said that much has yet to be investigated in determining the cause of the accident.
However, he said it appears that the 24-foot boat was approaching a point of land near the Sea Breeze Resort in Glenhaven when, for some unknown reason, while Wickersham steered away to avoid the point, the boat collided with a retractable dock that was suspended above the surface of the lake.
The collision apparently incapacitated Wickersham and caused Young to be ejected into the water, Bauman said. The boat continued without an operator, at a speed believed to be about 35 to 40 miles per hour, in a circular pattern until eventually crashing into the rocks and seawall ashore.
Wickersham’s exact condition is unknown, however he is believed to be in critical but stable condition, Bauman said.
He added that it does not appear that alcohol or drugs were a contributing factor in the accident.
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