A commercial crabbing boat docked at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay that sank Sunday morning may have been an act of vandalism, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The harbormaster at Pillar Point Harbor reported the incident to the Coast Guard at 9 a.m., but the 32-foot fiberglass boat named, "Tonita," was already submerged, said Coast Guard spokesman Ron Skoda.
"It appears that somebody may have turned a hose on inside the cabin and filled the boat with water," Skoda said.
The owner of the vessel, Chris Eatinger, is a Watsonville resident who works as a seafood salesperson and commercial fisherman.
Eatinger said that year-round he catches red rock crab and then switches to Dungeness crab when the season begins on Nov. 15.
With the help of the Coast Guard, the Tonita has been salvaged and is now afloat, said Eatinger.
All electronics on board were lost and the engine may not be repairable, but the hull looks good, said Eatinger who does not have boat insurance.
"It's absolutely 100 percent that someone did this. Harbor police found a garden hose in my cabin turned on. Its hard to understand why someone would do this," Eatinger said.
Eatinger said he feels targeted. He says he has had disagreements with other fisherman over the years, but never anything serious.
"I have an account with Monterey Bay Aquarium for red rock crab. Some guy might have thought that I was jumping the (Dungeness crab) season," Eatinger said. "I was just doing what I always do, getting red rock crab. I'm not competition. I don't have many crab pots. I've got 150 old ragtag pots."
Eatinger said that by Tuesday the harbor patrol and Coast Guard had contained the oil spill and oil that leaked into the water was collected and disposed in an environmentally sound manner.
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