Update: Double Rainbow Over Bridge

UPDATE, 9:10 AM, with rainbow photos.

Rescuers believe no one was aboard a 40-foot fishing boat that sank near Silver Strand State Beach during a stormy Friday morning, as rain battered the community and the region.

City spokeswoman Janine Zuniga said the Coast Guard located the boat's owner, but have not been able to reach the person who was supposed to be on the vessel.

The Coast Guard was told the boat had been left Thursday at Zuniga Jetty, at the far edge of North Island Naval Air Station, where San Diego Bay exits to the sea. It's an area known for calmer waters, Zuniga said.

The dinghy was missing, leading to hope that the person left ahead of the storm and is safe.

The boat ended up Friday in an area a half-mile south of the Naval Amphibious Base, a couple of miles from the jetty. Local and state lifeguards assisted in the initial search.

The community had some minor damage from the rain. A palm tree was split in two on Orange Avenue, near 8th Street; no one was hurt and no property was damaged. The city plans to remove the tree by Saturday, Zuniga said.

There was some flooding along Silver Strand Boulevard near the amphib base and an entrance to the community center. The city had offered sandbags to residents but no one called for any. 

The search for the fishing boat began in the morning, said Petty Officer Allyson Conroy when North Island officials informed the Coast Guard that a submerged vessel had been spotted. The Coast Guard dispatched a 33-foot response boat and a Jayhawk helicopter to search the area.

“We don't have any people confirmed on board or in the water,” Conroy said, as the search continued.

A helicopter could be seen about a half-mile off shore from the area around the Coronado Shores condominiums at about 1:40 p.m., along with other vessels conducting the search. It was called off soon after.

Lifeguard Capt. Sean Casey said the stronger late afternoon storm cell battered the remains of the boat to the point that it was no longer visible from the shore. Pieces were washing up near Fiddlers Cove.

“It's starting to break up out there right now,” he said.