News article....

Sixteen Rescued in Mexico Boat Sink
By LISA J. ADAMS, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Sixteen people forced to abandon a sinking
dive boat in the Gulf of California drifted in life boats for 21 hours
before being rescued Monday.
``Everyone is safe and in good health,'' said Barbara Leah Wilson, of
Scottsdale, Ariz., owner of Poseidon's Mistress, a charter boat
specializing in scuba diving that had been based in the Pacific coast
port of San Carlos.
The boat's captain, Wilson's fiance, Don Stanbro, also of Scottsdale,
called Wilson on Sunday morning to say the 137-ton vessel was
damaged, and called back less than an hour later to say it was sinking
and those aboard had to abandon it.
Besides the captain, the boat carried five Mexican crew members and
10 Mexican passengers, Wilson said.
Fighting turbulent seas, the crew got lifeboats in the water before the
ship went under, Wilson said.
Twelve people drifted 60 miles before landing on a beach at Punta
Hueso de Ballena, on the Sonora coast early Monday. The other four,
drifting in a separate boat, were located later by a navy helicopter, she
said.
They floated for about 21 hours, Wilson said. ``It's a miracle they are
OK.''
Poseidon's Mistress left the Marina Real in San Carlos on Wednesday
and may have run into trouble when Hurricane Juliette stirred up the
Gulf of California, said Wilson.
Juliette lashed the southern Baja California peninsula last week with
heavy rains and high winds that killed three people, smashed docks
along the coast and destroyed hundreds of homes.

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Mike Wallace
Huntsville, Alabama