$7-Million Yacht Wrecked : Americans Cruise Into Nightmare Off Mexico

They had been looking forward to the weeklong journey for a year. The retired Los Angeles firefighters, their wives and friends would welcome the New Year aboard a luxury yacht; they hoped to swim, snorkel and fish under the Baja California sun.

But the 400-mile journey from La Paz to Loreto and back along the Baja California gulf coast was a bigger adventure than the 16 Americans had bargained for. Not only was the sunshine scarce, but the men ended their excursion by swimming in 20-foot swells as their chartered yacht sank.

Reached by telephone at the La Paz hotel, where they were recovering Friday, some of the vacationers recounted their adventure.

Anchored Two Days

On the final leg of its journey, the 160-foot Canta Mar was forced to anchor for two days near the Baja California shore to ride out stormy weather. Waves slammed the ship harder and harder as it sat anchored, however, flooding the decks and inching the $7-million yacht toward the jagged rocks where it finally broke up.

“Oh boy, we came within seconds of being gonners,” said J. Slade De Laney, 62, of Bridgeport, Calif. “We were anchored for 50 hours, getting beat up by the waves.”

“It became very tense and very frightening,” said Marie Shutz, 63, of Los Osos, near Morro Bay. “We felt everything would work out, but every once in a while we’d say: ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ The difficult part went on for so long.”

The last time the Americans and the 10 Mexican crew members saw the pleasure boat it lay on its side, being bashed against boulders. A Mexican Coast Guard cutter had rescued them from the wreckage. They were shivering with cold and fear, but suffered only from scratches and sore muscles.

Boarded in La Paz

Retired firefighter Alex Shutz said that his buddies reserved the charter boat a year ago through a travel agency and tour company. The group of 16--about half of whom continued to live in Los Angeles after retiring--boarded the Mexican yacht two days after Christmas in La Paz.

From the beginning, Shutz said, they had little nice weather. They made it to Loreto, about 200 miles north of La Paz, and were headed back to La Paz when one of the Canta Mar’s two engines gave out.

“Then, after we traveled a long way on the second engine, that one gave out,” Shutz said.

The boat drifted until late on Jan. 1, when the captain dropped anchor near an island about 65 miles north of La Paz, where he hoped to wait out the storm.

“The boat went bouncing around like a cork,” Shutz said.

The yacht took on water that night and the next day as the high seas continued. The water flooded the generator, sapping all power from the boat.

The lifeboats on the yacht were too small to be seaworthy in such swells, so the passengers and crew prepared to abandon ship. First, however, the captain would have to reach a sandy area of the island and run the craft aground.

“We kept control of ourselves with a lot of kidding around. We would bet five to one that we wouldn’t go down. . . . We’d tell each other: ‘Next time, I’m not going with you. You must be the Jonah.’ But there was a lot of tension,” Shutz said.

The Mexican Coast Guard cutter arrived late Wednesday, but could do nothing before daylight.

“We didn’t sleep much. We tried to sleep and cuddled up to each other and thought about positive possibilities,” Marie Shutz said.

On Thursday, the Coast Guard took the 12 women off the yacht. The guardsmen deposited the women on the cutter and were returning for the men, when the yacht suddenly jutted toward the rocks and the men jumped into the sea.

“We bailed out,” Shutz said. “We had to get off before it hit the cliffs. We would have been wrecked.”

In the shelter of the nearby island, the men and women were able to board the Coast Guard cutter for a six-hour ride back to La Paz.

He said the group expected to return to Los Angeles today.