Ripon Fisherman Back Home After Surviving Capsized Boat

RIPON, Calif. (CBS13) – One of the survivors of a disastrous fishing trip off the coast of Mexico has returned to his family, and he says his harrowing experience raises serious questions about the actions of the boat's captain before it went down.

Joe Beeler was one of the 19 tourists and 16 crew members who were rescued after the 115-foot vessel Erik sank early Monday morning during a storm that Beeler says the tourists were never warned about. The ship capsized during a thunderstorm only moments after Beeler was warned to abandon ship.

"You could hear the crew out there hollering in Spanish, running back and forth," Beeler said. "We had about, maybe less than a minute to get out of our room and dive into the water."

The strong wind and waves rolled the Erik onto its side, and the boat sank stern first.

"Most of us had no life jackets, so you just had to dive out in the water and hope you could grab onto some flotation device," Beeler said.

Beeler said he was beginning to tire from staying afloat in the storm when he found a floating cushion, then an ice chest, and finally a small fishing boat. Out of the darkness, Beeler began finding other survivors adrift in the ocean.

"We could hear people, you know, hollering at each other, but it was pitch dark by then because the ship was already gone," he said.

By morning, a group of survivors had converged and used ice chest lids to steer their way to shore. The group finally reached safety on the shore of Baja California about 14 hours at sea with no rescuers searching for them.

Beeler said the captain made a critical mistake before the boat sank. "He was telling the captain, 'Mayday, call Mayday,' and the captain never did. For what reason, we don't know," he said.

Seven tourists are still missing in the ocean. One U.S. resident was confirmed dead after the ship sank.

Family members of the missing have set up a Facebook page to coordinate information about the search.