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One boater dies, two float to safety in gulf

Another vessel fishing off Clearwater pulls the Tampa men from the water after their boat takes a wave and sinks.

CLEARWATER - A Tampa man died Sunday morning after a wave swamped and sank the 22-foot fishing boat he was in with two companions, authorities said.

People on another boat rescued two of the stricken boaters from the gulf off Clearwater, but found Carlo Sanabria, 68, of 4104 W Broad St., dead shortly after noon, Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said.

The survivors, Alirio M. Sarchi, 64, also of 4104 W Broad St., and Leonardo F. Gomez, 46, of 305 N Gomez Ave., Tampa, were uninjured, deputies said.

The three had left from the Belleair Causeway just before sunrise Sunday for their first fishing trip on the 1982 boat, deputies said.

About five hours later, and 6 miles offshore, their 175-horsepower engine gave out. They tried unsuccessfully to use a spare 25-horsepower engine to power to shore.

As they paused to try again to get the larger engine working, a wave washed over the stern, deputies said. The boat quickly sank.

The men grabbed life jackets and plastic coolers to stay afloat, deputies said.

A mile away, William Santiago and three of his relatives decided to move to a different spot to catch grouper.

Santiago, 54, of Tampa, first saw a white plastic cooler bobbing on the waves. Then he saw a man clinging to it.

"He was almost drowning," said Santiago, a carpenter. He said he did not remember whether the first person he saw was Gomez or Sarchi.

"We got him out and put him in the boat. He says, "I got two more friends in the water'. " But he did not know where they were.

While others on the boat called for help, Santiago kept looking for the missing boaters. He fired six flares into the air to summon assistance.

"We see something floating," Santiago said. "It was the second guy, hanging onto two life preservers. He was facing up, swallowing water."

By the time Santiago found Sanabria's body, he had been in the water about an hour, deputies said. When Coast Guard units arrived 30 minutes after that, they tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Sanabria, authorities said.

Sanabria was pronounced dead when authorities returned to the Coast Guard station at Sand Key.

It was unclear Sunday who owned the boat, which was purchased last week.

"It's a tragedy," Santiago said. "Right now, I see the man floating in the water dead. It's not something you can forget."

- Times staff writer Megan Scott contributed to this report. Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 771-4303 or asharockman@sptimes.com