Coast Guard Rescues Sinking Boat : Ventura Harbor: The 74-year-old yacht was deemed unseaworthy before it set out for Port San Luis to get repairs.

Aleaky 74-year-old wooden boat, which left Ventura Harbor against the advice of inspectors, had to be towed to safety by the U.S. Coast Guard after it started taking on water Thursday.

The vessel set out Wednesday for Port San Luis, where the owners of the yacht thought repairs would be cheaper. It began sinking Thursday morning eight miles east of San Miguel Island, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Brenda Toledo.

The 1917 yacht, owned by Marco Danova and Evan Baker of Thousand Oaks, had been docked for several days at Ventura Harbor for safety inspections, Harbor Master John Tyler said. It was deemed unseaworthy after the hull was cleaned and found to be completely rotted.

“The stuff growing on the bottom of the boat was the only thing keeping it afloat,” said John Prideaux, manager of the Ventura Boat Yard. “We made repairs sufficient enough to keep it floating in the harbor, but not enough to be seaworthy. The thing was ready for the scrapheap.”

After receiving distress signals from the crew, the Coast Guard sent a rescue helicopter out to the 64-foot El Perrito to deliver water pumps to the two crewmen, who were struggling to keep the yacht afloat, Toledo said.

A Coast Guard cutter reached the boat by noon and towed it back to Ventura Harbor.

“We were never worried,” said one unshaven crew member, wearing ripped jeans and a grease-streaked sweat shirt. “This kind of stuff happens on boats all of the time,” he said, refusing to reveal his name.

“We could have made it all of the way if the Coast Guard had just given us a jump (start),” he said. “But they decided to give us the pump and bring us back to Ventura.”

The disabled boat reached Ventura Harbor about 6:30 p.m. Tyler said the boat could have been denied access to the harbor under an ordinance prohibiting unseaworthy vessels. But Port District members met with harbor and Coast Guard officials and decided to let the boat dock.

No slip was available for the boat, so it was tied up next to another boat.

“It’s kind of illegal but because it was an emergency situation, we allowed them to do it temporarily,” said dock master Ken Gaynor.

He estimated that it cost the Coast Guard $50,000 to retrieve the boat.

“I don’t see how the Coast Guard will let them take the boat out in the condition it’s in. They’re just going to have to take it out of the water in the morning,” he said.

Boat owner Danova and Prideaux agreed that the boat will be taken out of the water today, Tyler said. “They agreed to haul it out and dispose of it. It would cost a lot of money to refurbish it or less money to have it destroyed,” he said.

As part of the agreement to secure dock space for the night, Danova promised that the crew will spend the night on the boat to keep the pumps going so it won’t sink in the harbor, Tyler said.

Prideaux said that before El Perrito left the harbor he informed Baker of the boat’s condition and gave him an estimate of what it would cost to make it seaworthy again.

“He didn’t believe what I told him,” Prideaux said. Baker decided to leave the harbor and get the repairs done at Port San Luis, Prideaux said.