The search continued Wednesday off Baja California for seven missing fishermen - including two Sonoma County men - amid fears from family members that the search-and-rescue effort would soon shift to recovery mode.
At 2:30 a.m. Thursday, 96 hours will have passed since the 115-foot excursion boat Erik went down in the Sea of Cortez, dumping all 43 passengers and crewmen into the water.
Penngrove resident Joelle Bautista, whose husband, Russ Bautista, was among those unaccounted for Wednesday, said she'd been told that was as long as the Mexican Navy would seek survivors. She said she had contacted members of Congress to request assistance in getting officials in Mexico to extend the search beyond that limit.
Darryl Chaddock, whose brother, Petaluma auto mechanic Shawn Chaddock, also was missing, said he had been in touch with the American consulate and the media "just trying to keep the pressure on, keep more people going out there ... just doing whatever we can besides going down there and searching ourselves."
"If anybody can make it, my brother can make it," Darryl Chaddock said. "He's tough."
Bautista, 60, who had taken several trips to the area, persuaded the five other local fishermen to come along, his wife said. One of the men gave the trip as a birthday gift to Chaddock, who turned 49 on June 27, his brother said.
The men left for Mexico on Thursday night and were aboard the Erik at around noon Saturday when it left the port in San Felipe, Darryl Chaddock said.
About 2:30 a.m. Sunday, they were awakened by a powerful storm and waves that quickly either capsized or swamped the boat 67 miles south of the launching point and two miles off shore. However, officials weren't notified until 10 hours later, when the first survivors came ashore, said Levi Read, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, which is assisting in the search.
"It was such a surprise that their wasn't a Mayday (distress call) that went out," Read said.
Four Sonoma County men - Jim Miller of Penngrove, Dave Levine of Bodega Bay and Warren Tsurumoto and Dennis DeLuca of Sebastopol - and four Novato men were among those who were rescued or reached shore alive.
One confirmed death has been reported: that of Leslie Lee, 65, of Ceres, near Modesto.
All 27 passengers on board the charter boat were part of an extended network of family and friends, and search crews hoped those still unaccounted for may have stayed together, boosting their chances of survival and of being found, Read said.
The Mexican Navy has led the effort to find survivors, but a C-130 Coast Guard plane out of Sacramento has been assisting with a a shore-to-shore search, including many small islands in the area, he said.
Noel Clay, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department in Washington, described the continuing search effort as "fluid" and said he could not confirm reports that that the Mexican government would only search for 96 hours.
Joelle Bautista said she had heard of a similar shipwreck in which someone survived for seven days before being found alive on an island by locals - not an official search-and-rescue party.
"We want them to get the locals involved because they know where all the nooks and crannies are," Joelle Bautista said. "We know that survivability is possible."
Darryl Chaddock said he heard from one survivor that his brother was among the first awake and in action as the vessel began to tip over amid powerful storm surf.
He said his brother was on deck when a large wave swept him and at least one other man overboard, but "at least they were up and alert and awake," he said. "Who knows? Maybe he got hold of an ice chest filled with beer" and floated to an island.
He said he hoped those who hear his story "pray for everybody who's missing, and hopefully they all come back safe.
"And all the other families who are waiting like we are, our prayers are with them," he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.
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