Your Weekend : Five Stranded in Storm Head for S.D.

Five San Diego-area residents stranded in a 45-foot sailboat battered by Tropical Storm Darby are expected to be returned to San Diego on Sunday, the Coast Guard said.

The five aboard the ketch Hosanna, who set sail from Chula Vista on Saturday bound for the Marshall Islands, were rescued from their leaking craft by the Coast Guard cutter Morgenthau at 2:45 a.m. Thursday.

The boat began taking on water early Wednesday about 450 miles southwest of San Diego after it was battered by high winds and waves. Coast Guard planes arrived at the scene several hours later and dropped pumps to the crew, helping them keep the ketch afloat.

Crew members of the Morgenthau went on board the Hosanna and were able to control the flooding. The cutter, with the San Diegans on board, then began towing the Hosanna, the Coast Guard said.

The Morgenthau was to bring the Hosanna to within 200 miles of the coast, where the Coast Guard cutter Tybee was scheduled to pick up the tow. The Morgenthau, with the Hosanna’s crew still on board, is expected to be back in San Diego by Sunday evening, the Coast Guard said. The Tybee was scheduled to arrive with the Hosanna Tuesday or Wednesday.