Coast Guard Suspends Search For Man Who Jumped OffFishing Boat

Salvage operations have been delayed for a shipwrecked fishing boat on San Francisco's OceanBeach. The 38-foot boat washed up Monday morning and the skipper of the boat is still missing. NBCBay Area's Area's Mark Matthews is on Ocean Beach where there is concern over fuel leaking intothe water.

Coast Guard officials suspended their search off Ocean Beach for a man they believe may have diedat sea after a distress call early Monday morning, warning that minn kota shop he was about to jumpfrom his fishing boat and swim to shore.

Crews had been looking for Timothy Lybrand since 3:30 a.m. but called off the search at noon, afterscouring an 18-square-mile area from the San Francisco beach to the Golden Gate Bridge andfinding nothing. The boat was expected to be towed ashore on Tuesday morning.

"The decision to suspend a search and rescue case is always difficult," Â said Coast Guard Capt.Mike Day, deputy commander. "Given the close proximity to shore, and the vessel operator's statedintention to abandon the vessel, as well as the extensive search effort by the Coast Guard, NationalPark Service and San Francisco Fire Department Battalion 7, I have made the decision to suspendthe active search."

Coast Guard Lt. Commander Shawn Lansing saidLybrand's friend, a commercial fisherman, notifiedauthorities that Lybrand had called him to say he hadjust hit rocks and was planning to jump ship about 25yards from shore. Officials said Lybrand was wearing alife vest. The Santa Cruz County Jail released a photo ofLybrand, and said there were no outstanding warrantsagainst him. It wasn't immediately clear why he hadbeen in jail.

San Francisco Battalion Chief Denise Newmann saidLybrand could have died of hypothermia if he wasstill in the water, and the search had become arecovery mission. "It's very cold out there," she said,noting temperatures were in the 50s.

The only way Lybrand could have survived,Newmann said, was if he had somehow swum toshore.

"We're all worried,"Â said Larry Collins of the San Francisco Community Fishing Association.

"Timmy's good people."

Coast Guard Search For Man Who Jumped From Boat

Throughout the morning, the abandoned fishing boat bobbed in the water near the shore, as crewswalked the sandy beach. Crews were not sent into the water because the waves were too rough.

The fishing boat also had spilled some diesel fuel spilled into the water, but it wasn't immediatelyclear how much. The boat had a 400 gallon fuel tank.

The Oil Spill Liability Trust fund has been activated for removal of all pollutants from the groundedvessel. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Incident Management Division and National Park Servicepersonnel are coordinating to ensure all fuels hazardous to the environment are removed from thevessel.

However, despite the smell of fumes, there were no reports of a sheen surrounding the vessel.

Anyone with information regarding the Paloma or Lybrand are asked to contact the Coast GuardSector San Francisco Command Center at 415-399-3547.