SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Two students were rescued after their homemade boat constructed from buckets and kiddie pools drifted too far from the Southern California coast, authorities said.
The men in their early 20s set out Saturday from Isla Vista in the vessel of questionable seaworthiness, said Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason.
“The tide kept pushing them further and further from shore — approximately 300 yards before County Fire was summoned,” Eliason said.
The makeshift boat was strung together with 20 Home Depot buckets, two plastic kiddie pools, plywood and duct tape, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
When the two were unable to paddle back in, firefighters were dispatched in a boat to pick them up, Eliason said. They were unhurt.
Conditions were calm at the time of the rescue, with water temperatures about 55 degrees, Eliason said.
Firefighters said alcohol was not a factor in the bad boating decisions, the newspaper reported.