A 31-foot vessel, the Catalina Condor remains in Redoubt Bay, after it was intentionally grounded and then accidentally overturned when the tide changed. The owner is working with the U.S. Coast Guard and local resources to float the vessel. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

A cabin cruiser grounded in Redoubt Bay on Friday (7-13-18) and remains overturned in the water. The owner of the Catalina Condor is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to salvage the vessel.

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The Catalina Condor started taking on water on Friday, July 13th around 10:30 a.m., where Redoubt Bay meets Redoubt Lake. The rocky shore is a popular subsistence fishing spot and the sockeye are running strong.

Petty Officer 1st Class Ken Farah, federal on-scene coordinator, said it appears the vessel was beached on purpose. The owner and two guests went on shore and lost track of the incoming tide. The water then flooded the Catalina Condor.

“The owners intended to go back to town, get some pumps, and come back,” Farah said. “When they did, the vessel had rolled over. They’re having some difficulties to right it and get it off the shore.”

The Catalina Condor is 31-feet-long with a fiberglass hull and challenging to salvage. The owner completely defueled the vessel at the time of the flooding, removing portable containers of gasoline being used with an outboard. The main engines were not in operation, so the internal diesel tanks empty. While it still smells like fuel, it’s mostly residual. “It smells a lot worse than sometimes it is. It just evaporates so fast,” Farah said.

The Catalina Condor was registered last year as the Marianna. Homeported in Sitka, the owner is Mario Rivera. Rivera is working with the Coast Guard to mitigate any potential pollution and float the vessel.

While it’s not ideal for fuel to spill so close to a salmon run, Farah is glad that it was gasoline – a less harmful substance than diesel – and that all involved are safe. “Recovery efforts are still pending, but the owner is working on getting some resources identified,” he said. 

Note: This vessel was involved in a previous near-sinking incident on June 19, 2018. Read more here.

The gillnetter Stingray tows the Catalina Condor to protected waters near Long Island, with the intention of beaching it if the flooding can’t be controlled. With the boat’s kicker (auxiliary engine) already submerged, the Catalina Condor’s skipper can be seen bailing with a bucket. Two dewatering pumps dropped by a Coast Guard helicopter kept the boat afloat, and it was eventually towed to town. (KCAW photo/Brandon Saiz)

Six people are safe after their recreational vessel began taking on water in Sitka Sound on Tuesday evening (6-19-18).

Good Samaritan boats — including gillnetters and charter vessels — swarmed the 27-foot Catalina Condor when its skipper called in a mayday near Long Island in Sitka Sound, at about 6:15 p.m.

According to the Coast Guard, there were six people on board the stricken vessel, including children. The passengers transferred to a raft, and then to the Good Samaritan vessel Poseidon.

The gillnetter Stingray took the Catalina Condor under tow into calmer water in the lee of Long Island, and an Air Station Sitka helicopter lowered a pump to the vessel’s skipper, who had remained on board bailing with a bucket.

Retired Coast Guard chief petty officer Brandon Saiz was fishing nearby and videoed the drop.

https://t.co/tuKPjww6bT

— Brandon Saiz (@shoesize38) June 20, 2018

As it turned out, one pump proved unable to keep up with the flooding on the boat. As the stern sank to within one foot of the ocean’s surface, the helicopter returned with a second pump, which successfully kept the Catalina Condor afloat.

The tow was passed to the Good Samaritan vessel Garnett for the trip back to town. Sitka’s Emergency Response Vessel arrived to provide an escort.

No injuries were reported in the incident. The weather was calm, with 1-foot seas.