8 people rescued from yacht taking on water in San Leon
Lauren Lea
Monday, September 05, 2016 10:46PM
SAN LEON, TX (KTRK) -- A Labor Day outing on the yacht "Euphoria" wasn't exactly euphoric on Monday. An oyster reef ended the holiday fun when the 47-foot yacht ran aground and started taking on water.
Eyewitness News exclusively obtained photos from Eagle Point Fishing Camp that show eight family members still aboard the listing boat.
"Yeah, they were freaked out at first," said Capt. John Judice, who was aboard a Sea Tow boat seen in the photos evacuating six adults and two children in water that's shallow enough to walk in. One by one he helped them get to safety.
Judice spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News.
"I ended up getting the kids off first, taking them over to the Coast Guard boat then the women and the men after that," he said.
Witnesses say the boat appeared to be going too fast for the area when it ran aground around 4:15pm.
Luckily, no one was hurt and the U.S. Coast Guard took the family home to Nassau Bay. Towing the Euphoria off the reef proved to be a difficult task, why it got stuck is still unknown, but it could be an expensive Labor Day lesson.
"If you don't pay attention to your charts out here, you can get into a lot of trouble, just like here," Judice added.