Coast Guard calls off ocean search for California guardsman

(Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard has called off a search for an off-duty member of the California Air National Guard who was swept into the ocean while he was fishing near Monterey, officials said on Wednesday. The guardsman, whose name has not been released, was hit by a wave and carried out into the water on Tuesday morning at Garrapata State Beach about 90 miles south of San Francisco, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. A Coast Guard spokesman said the search, which involved a 47-foot life boat and a helicopter, lasted about seven hours before it was called off on Tuesday evening. The guardsman was assigned to the California Air National Guard's 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field, the Coast Guard statement said. The man was fishing when he was swept out to the ocean, said Lieutenant Roderick Bersamina, a spokesman for the 19th Rescue Wing. He lived in the area and was on drill status with the California Air National Guard, meaning he served one weekend a month and two weeks out of the year, Bersamina said. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)