A search is underway for three Americans who set sail from Mazatlán, Mexico, to the U.S. and have not been seen or heard from in more than 10 days.
Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien, and William Gross left on April 4, planning to make provisions stop in Cabo San Lucas before heading to San Diego.
However, they never arrived in Cabo San Lucas, and their location is unknown.
Gross’s daughter, Melissa Spicuzza, said that each missing American has decades of sailing experience, and the O’Briens have Coast Guard captain’s licenses, which are required for voyages with paying passengers.
According to NBC San Diego, the O’Briens invited Gross to sail with them, and he accepted because he loves being on the water. Gross lives on a boat in San Diego Bay.
The Mexican navy is leading the search for the missing Americans, with the U.S.
Coast Guard also provides assistance. Searchers have contacted marinas in Baja, Mexico, but no one has reported seeing the trio’s boat, a LaFitte model 44 sailing yacht, named the Ocean Bound.
Urgent marine broadcasts via VHF radio have not yielded any reports of the sailors or their vessels.
The National Weather Service reported that seas along the Baja coast on Saturday included waves as high as 10 feet.
The missing sailors’ boat is a LaFitte model 44 sailing yacht, which was sold in the 1970s and 1980s by LaFitte Yachts Inc. of Newport Beach.
According to marketing material from the time, it was conceived by noted yacht designer Robert Perry as “the ultimate cruising yacht hull.”
The Coast Guard has called for anyone with information on the whereabouts of the missing Americans or their vessel to contact them.
Aiva Arthur
