A fisherman came to the rescue of those aboard a sport fishing vessel that caught fire off Point Loma Saturday and sank. The passengers and two crew members on board the boat that caught fire were rescued by Michael "Captain Woody" Wood who was about to set sail on a fishing excursion off the Point Loma coast.
Wood and his two passengers, a father and his son, cast a line off his boat named "Passport," but soon spotted white smoke on the horizon, about 10 miles from the coastline. Wood told reporting partner 10News he headed towards the smoke to investigate and arrived to find rolls of thick black smoke billowing from the hull of a 40-foot boat.
The six passengers aboard the burning boat jumped into the water and swam to Wood's boat. Two crew members tried to fight back the flames but the fire and smoke grew more intense and they too jumped into the water and swam to Wood's boat.
A San Diego Lifeguard boat arrived soon after and tried to put out the fire, but the sport-fishing vessel, named Reel Viking, sunk. The six passengers and two crew members aboard the sport fishing boat were uninjured.
(Photo credit 10News)