The sportfishing vessel Jig Strike sank at Cortes Bank, a shallow seamount near San Pedro, on Saturday morning. The crew successfully evacuated all passengers, who were then transferred to the Legend for their return trip to San Diego. The incident occurred after the vessel struck an unknown object, causing damage to the bow.
Jig Strike's captain, Patrick Doherty, confirmed the incident, saying, "At 10:35 a.m. out at Cortes Bank, we struck an unknown object floating just under the surface of the wate. The collision caused the portside bow to fail and caused us to go down. We were able to get all passengers mustered to the stern, lifejackets on, life raft deployed and everyone off the boat in less than 5 minutes. As fast as everything happened, everyone is safe and uninjured. I would like to thank all the boats that responded to our mayday call, and the captain and crew of the Legend for being on scene in minutes to help us out of the raft and for taking us back to San Diego.”
Jig Strike is operated by H&M Landing, a well-known sportfishing company on the West Coast.
Captain Steve Taft of the Legend praised the crew, saying, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of the M/V Jig Strike today but also very proud of the crew for carrying out their training under pressure and safely evacuating all passengers. Everyone is off the boat safely and on their way home aboard the Legend. The boat has been in my family for over 20 years and was where I worked my first full summer with my dad catching tons of albacore. While I am heartbroken about the loss of the boat, what really matters is everyone is safe to fish another day and both the Jig Strike and Legend crew took great care of their passengers.”