Skipper Perishes When Boat Capsizes
One man was killed and another fell into the ocean when a fishing boat headed for New Zealand capsized Monday about 980 miles southwest of San Diego, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The skipper of the Viva, Richard Ennis, 53, of Morro Bay, was lost after he became trapped aboard the 47-foot boat when it capsized about 1 p.m., said Timothy Rowe, a Coast Guard spokesman.
Before his death, Ennis warned crewman Terry Groat, 26, of Crescent City to abandon ship. “Apparently (Groat) was sleeping, and the ship’s master went in and woke him up,” Rowe said.
Groat was reportedly thrown from the vessel but rescued by the crew of the Billie Marie, a fishing vessel traveling with the Viva. Both vessels list Morro Bay, about 350 miles north of San Diego, as their home port, Rowe said.
The cause of the capsizing is under investigation.
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