The Mystery of Two Sunken Ships

By Kevin Painchaud

On Friday March 22, Scott Kathey, Regulatory/Emergency Response Coordinator, from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary received a call that two boats had sunk off the coast of Santa Cruz. Each boat was reported within 15 minutes of each other. The cause of the sinking is currently under investigation. There was no crew on either boat at the time.

The first boat was a 53 foot 1959 Greenwood cruiser. It was anchored in 60 feet of water, approximately 1 nautical mile east of Point Soquel. A salvage company inspected the 53-foot cabin cruiser to see if it had fuel on board. No fuel was found, so it was decided that it would be towed to Moss Landing. While in route, the boat began to fall apart near the cement ship in Aptos. They then decided to anchor it there until it could be removed.

The Trimaran was found barely afloat drifting 7 nautical miles south west of Point Santa Cruz. It was badly weathered and was barely able to float. Over the weekend, it was decided that both boats would be towed to shore in Aptos and dismantled on Tuesday.

Both ships had been inspected by the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to make sure that there was no harmful materials or fuel that could cause damage to the bay.

The Trimaran was the first to be towed in and dismantled followed by the 53-foot cruiser. By Wednesday afternoon, the Trimaran was completely taken apart and put in a dumpster. The 53-foot cruiser had its engines removed and as of his reporting, was having excess fluids drained to allow the vessel to be towed further into the beach to be dismantled.

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These incidents have been referred to enforcement authorities for investigation. No further information will be released until those investigations have concluded.