3 Aboard Safe : 82-Foot Yacht Burns and Sinks Off Newport

Three people on an outing to Santa Catalina Island abandoned their 82-foot pleasure boat Friday when it caught fire, and watched as it sank eight miles off Newport Beach despite the efforts of seagoing firefighters.

The Solar Wind, a yacht based in Newport Harbor, sank in about 1,200 feet of water with 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard. Firefighters from the U.S. Coast Guard and Orange County Harbor Patrol battled the blaze for more than an hour before the severely damaged vessel sank about 3:15 p.m., officials said.

No one was injured in the sinking, but authorities estimated the loss at $1.5 million.

The drama began shortly before 1:35 p.m. while the Solar Wind was en route to Catalina Island’s Avalon Harbor. Aboard were the boat’s owner, Peter B. Rothschild, 49, the skipper, Michael F. Catania, both of Newport Beach, and Lynn Finic, 29, of San Diego.

Fire in Engine Compartment

Catania said a fire broke out in the engine compartment when they were about eight miles west of Newport Beach. As the flames spread, Catania radioed a distress call to the Coast Guard in Long Beach.

“They (those on board) said it was serious enough for them . . . to want to ditch the boat,” U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dennis Hall said.

As the fire spread from the engine compartment, lighting up the vessel’s superstructure, the three threw a 12-foot inflatable boat, a marine radio and a briefcase overboard before abandoning the yacht.

“We had no choice,” Catania said. “We had to abandon it immediately after calling the Coast Guard.”

Catania said they paddled away from the burning boat to another private vessel--The Mystic Lady--whose crew had seen the smoke and responded to distress calls from Solar Wind.

They watched from the rescue vessel as fire enveloped the stern and continued to flare in the engine compartment. A 41-foot Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol off San Pedro was sent to help extinguish the blaze, and two Orange County Harbor Patrol firefighting boats at Newport Harbor sped to the scene.

Using high-pressure hoses, firefighters succeeded in putting out the flames in the superstructure, then concentrated on extinguishing the fire in the engine room.

“By that time, the fire had already burned down to the Solar Wind’s water line,” Petty Officer Hall said. As people from more than a half dozen other pleasure boats looked on, Solar Wind went down in a gulp of water.

Modern Equipment

The Solar Wind--a 1980 sport fishing boat--was equipped with modern navigation equipment, Harbor Patrol Sgt. Howard Mol said. A jet ski and other expensive sporting equipment aboard were also destroyed, he added.

Catania, owner Rothschild and Lynn Finic left Mystic Lady and boarded one of the Harbor Patrol’s firefighting boats, which took them to the Bayside Drive headquarters of the Harbor Patrol in Newport Beach.

There, officials from the Coast Guard environmental response division questioned the crew about the accident.

“So far there is no sign of a spill,” Hall said. “But in cases like these, if the owner or the crew is found to be negligent, they will have to pay for the cleanup.”

Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this story.