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Retired Calif. battalion chief presumed drowned

Mike Haberski, 59, was sailing solo in the Konocti Bay area Tuesday evening when his 25-foot boat overturned

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By Glenda Anderson
The Press Democrat

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A retired Petaluma Fire Department battalion chief is missing and presumed drowned in Clear Lake, the third person to lose his life in the lake in two weeks.

Mike Haberski, 59, was sailing solo in the Konocti Bay area Tuesday evening when his 25-foot boat overturned, said Lake County Under Sheriff Chris Macedo. It’s not known why the boat overturned, he said.

A man sitting on a deck some 300 yards away heard someone yelling “help,” Macedo said. Using binoculars, the witness spotted the sailboat and a man in the water without a life vest. His companion phoned 911 for help about 7:20 p.m.

Another man boating on the lake also heard the calls. He pulled up next to the overturned vessel but could not see anyone in the water, Macedo said.

The sheriff’s marine patrol unit is searching the area but has yet to find Haberski, he said. A dive team will be called out once a search area can be narrowed down, Macedo said.

Macedo said he cannot recall another year in which more people perished in Clear Lake.

One man drowned while swimming in the lake last week. A week previously, a man died when the speed boat he was in broke apart and sank.

The conditions on Clear Lake Tuesday night were relatively mild, Macedo said. The water temperature was 76 degrees, the winds were blowing between 10 and 12 mph and the swells were from 6 inches to a foot tall, he said.

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(c)2016 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

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