4 Rescued From Sea, 9 Hurt as Swell Hits Excursion Boat

MORRO BAY, Calif. — A sudden, sharp swell rocked a whale-watching boat as it headed out to sea, tossing four passengers overboard and injuring at least nine people.

Those pitched overboard were rescued, including a 3-year-old boy who was saved by a deckhand after the swell lifted the 55-foot Big Mama 1 and dropped it hard.

“An exact feeling would be (like) an elevator dropping, but more so,” said Harbor Patrol Officer Tom Kellerman, who helped pluck passengers from the water.

The boat was setting out on its scheduled Sunday excursion and had cleared the mouth of the harbor when the swell rose. As the boat pitched downward, passengers were thrown into the ocean.

“I mean they were flying, they were flying,” said passenger Annette Jones. “They didn’t just fall off.”

The boat was carrying 36 people, including the captain and one crew member, said Pam Lanini of Virg’s Fish’n. Nine people were treated at hospitals for injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones and were released, the Harbor Patrol said.

After the wave dropped Big Mama 1, deckhand Tom Cushman freed a lifeboat, grabbed a life jacket, jumped into the water and swam to 3-year-old Christopher Sheppard, who had been thrown overboard with his father, Greg Sheppard.

Cushman put the toddler on his chest and floated until they were picked up, several passengers said.

Life jackets were available to all passengers, but Coast Guard regulations do not require wearing them, the Harbor Patrol said.

Gary James said he was standing at the boat’s bow with his wife and 5-year-old daughter, Katie, when the swell hit.

James, a Visalia police officer, said he held onto the child to keep her from going overboard despite being slammed into the pilothouse and flung face-first into the boat’s anchor.

“I was hanging onto her for dear life,” James said. He suffered a dislocated shoulder, broken wrist and cracked cheekbone. His daughter had a bruised chin.

The accident occurred two days shy of the 10th anniversary of a similar incident in which a swell capsized a boat and threw 32 people, including 23 middle school students, into the harbor. All were rescued, but the vessel’s captain suffered a heart attack and died days later.

The water is shallow near the harbor’s breakwater and large swells and breaking waves are common, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert McKee. The Army Corps of Engineers plans a dredging project to fix the entrance in 1995.