Huntington Beach : No One Hurt as Yacht Catches Fire in Channel

A 43-foot yacht caught fire while en route to Huntington Harbour from Santa Catalina Island, but all six people aboard escaped unharmed, officials said Monday.

Cries of “Mayday!” and reports of a fire on the $200,000 cabin cruiser “Midas Touch” were heard about 9:45 a.m. Monday, Coast Guard spokesman Brad Smith said.

The boat’s owner, Russ Vatcher of Huntington Beach, and his five passengers escaped in a life raft and were picked up about 20 minutes later by another boat, Smith said.

Two Coast Guard helicopters from San Diego were dispatched to pinpoint the location of the boat, which was about 13 miles off Catalina when it caught fire, Smith said. Coast Guard vessels, a Navy ship that was in the area and a boat from the Cabrillo Bay Watch in San Pedro put out the fire shortly after 10:30 a.m. The Coast Guard cutter Point Evans towed the boat back to Huntington Harbour.

Vatcher said that when he first noticed smoke in the yacht’s engine compartment, where the fire began, he tried unsuccessfully to remove the engine cover.

“It’s a good thing too, because it would have ignited the whole boat,” Vatcher said Monday. When he realized that he could not put out the blaze, Vatcher said, he radioed for help, “and then we got the hell out of there.”

Vatcher estimated damage to the yacht at $40,000, including one engine that he said “is gone for sure.”

On Sunday, a 28-foot cabin cruiser burst into flames off Laguna Beach. The lone sailor also escaped unharmed, but the boat sank.