Jul 14, 2008 10:44 pm US/Eastern
35 Rescued From Charter Boat Off Plymouth
PLYMOUTH (WBZ) ―
An all-day fishing trip turned into a mayday and ended as a half-day whale watch for 26 customers and nine crew members of the Captain John Boats in Plymouth's outer harbor Monday morning.
The foiled fishermen returned to Plymouth on the whale watch boat, "Tails of the Sea," with an extra tale to tell about the Coast Guard and good Samaritan boats who came to their rescue about six miles off Gurnet Point, about an hour into their trip.
Passenger Bill Jacobs of Grafton, Ontario said, "nobody was too worried."
He said the smoke rolled over the stern and was starting to come up from the engine room when the crew shut down one of the boat's two diesel engines.
Bob Avila, a captain and sales director for Capt. John Boats, says a turbo-charger on one of the brand new engines leaked oil and caused a smoke condition, so the crew shut both engines down as a precaution and called in the mayday.
The passengers were transferred from the 77-foot fishing boatÂ
Capt. John & Son to the 100-foot whale watch boat, which already had 55 passengers aboard.
They were given the option of coming ashore or going on a free whale watch. They all opted for the whale watch.
Everyone was safely ashore this afternoon.
The fishing boat was towed to a mooring for a Coast Guard inspection to determine exactly what happened and why.
(If you have photos or video from the scene,
e-mail them to WBZ)
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