10 Aboard Vessel Died : Victim’s Kin Files 1st Suit in Sinking of Fish-n-Fool

The first lawsuit arising from the sinking of the San Diego fishing boat Fish-n-Fool, which cost 10 lives, has been filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Attorney Carlton E. Russell filed the suit, seeking unspecified damages, in U.S. District Court on behalf of Myrna Milam of Norwich, whose husband, Terry, died in the sinking of the vessel off Baja California, near San Martin Island.

Named in the wrongful death suit were Bernst Inc., owner of the boat; Fish-n-Fool Inc., which leased the vessel, and H & M Sportfishing Landing of Point Loma.

“Boats that are seaworthy and handled by a competent crew don’t capsize on a nice day off Baja,” Russell said, speaking Friday after the close of a five-day hearing on the accident held by the U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board.

Russell declined to discuss specifics of the suit but, while talking to relatives of the victims of the Feb. 5 accident, said he planned to show that “the vessel was obviously at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Russell also represents survivor Jim Sims of Riverside and relatives of victim Ken Baldwin of Huntington Beach.

Milam, Baldwin and eight others died in the sinking, after the boat capsized when it was hit by a 20-foot-high rogue wave about 150 miles southeast of San Diego. Sims swam for seven hours to a nearby island; crew member Cathy Compton was rescued from a life raft.

Earlier Friday at a San Diego hearing, William P. Barry, the Los Angeles lawyer representing Fish-n-Fool Inc., made his closing arguments to the investigating board. He contended that skipper Gary LaMont, who was among the victims, did not steer the boat as close to a rock outcropping as survior Sims had testified earlier.

Barry claimed the boat was about 50 yards from the outcropping, called Ben’s Rock, which Barry said contains three “pinnacles.” He said a first wave struck one pinnacle, then another approached the part of the outcropping near the craft.

“Obviously, Mr. Sims is not going to be able to tell where one pinnacle, another pinnacle or the third pinnacle is,” Barry said. “ . . . He saw a rock, and I don’t have any reason to doubt it. But whether he saw the northwest pinnacle or whether he saw the southern pinnacle, it will never be truly known.”

Barry said it was virtually inconceivable that LaMont would have steered the boat into rough waters for fishing. He cited the Spring Valley skipper’s excellent record as a captain and his experience in Baja waters and the San Martin Island area.

Sims testified earlier in the hearing that the boat was idling about 20 feet from the rock as the passengers were fishing. He said LaMont had even remarked on the size of the swells near Ben’s Rock when they were about one mile south of the outcropping.

However, Cathy Compton, the other survivor and a colleague and friend of LaMont, told the panel on Thursday that the boat was at least one mile from the rock.

Afterward, LaMont’s widow, Inez, said she felt that Sims’ testimony would damage the Fish-n-Fool’s case. But she also defended her husband as a well-qualified captain and speculated that Sims may have misunderstood him.

“I was concerned about that testimony,” Mrs. LaMont said. “I never thought that Jim was lying in that he saw a rock. But what he would have seen was that southeast pinnacle.” She added that Sims was not familiar with ocean boating.

Mrs. LaMont and her husband leased the Fish-n-Fool from Bernst Inc.

Throughout the hearing, family and friends of the victims criticized the Coast Guard’s handling of the rescue operation, claiming the Coast Guard’s initial efforts to pinpoint the location of the wreck and start rescue operations were half-hearted.

Russell and victims’ relatives have indicated other lawsuits may be filed.

Coast Guard officials have said they expect to issue their report on causes of the accident in about four months. NTSB officials predicted their report will be out in six months.