Dive Boat in Distress Calls Coast Guard
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SANTA CRUZ ISLAND — Coast Guard boats and a helicopter were called to aid 36 people aboard a foundering dive boat Friday night, but leaking in the hull had stopped by the time help arrived.
The divers were presumably out for the first night of lobster season, Coast Guard officials said.
About 8:35 p.m., the Coast Guard received a call from the 65-foot boat Truth, indicating that it was taking on water about half a mile off Santa Cruz Island, said Petty Officer Dawn Butler in Long Beach.
The Coast Guard station at the Channel Islands Harbor dispatched a 41-foot utility boat and an 82-foot patrol boat. Meanwhile, a Coast Guard helicopter was sent from Los Angeles International Airport.
Three private boats were also on hand to assist.
The boat appeared to have taken in water through a faulty fitting in its hull. It anchored in Scorpion Bay until the Coast Guard could arrive and evaluate the safety of the dive boat and its passengers.
The Truth was expected to return to shore without Coast Guard assistance.
It was not immediately known from which harbor the Truth had departed. However, a company called Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara operates a dive boat by that name.
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