“LOST S.D. TUNABOAT STRUCK SUB OR LOG – A San Diego tuna skipper whose vessel sank under him three days ago (i.e. Nov. 8th – ed.) off the coast of Panama said in an overseas telephone interview yesterday it was possible his ship had hit either a submarine or a submerged log. Captain Joe M. Nunez, age 45, of 3110 Addison St. (now known as Avenida de Portugal – ed.), Point Loma, said, ‘It could have been a submarine or a heavy sunken log, but how it actually happened is really a mystery to me.’
CREW SAFE
His vessel, the 117’ San Diego tuna boat ‘KATIE LOU’ sank about 17 miles off the coast of Panama afternoon is and his crew had nursed it along for 3 days after the accident. None of the 12-man crew was injured in the accident. An estimated 100 tons of tuna or aboard. ‘The accident happened in the middle of the night’, Nunez said from Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, while awaiting air transportation to return to the United States.
200 MILES AT SEA
‘It was about 1:30 am when we were hit,’ he said. ‘The propeller and rudder were bent and a propeller shaft broke off.’ Nunez and his crew were fishing off the coast of Ecuador, about 200 miles from Panama with the accident happened. ‘About 17 miles from the Panama Coast we couldn’t keep the ship afloat any longer and had to abandon her,’ Nunez said. ‘We had to transfer to the ship’s motor skiff,’ he said. ‘We were in this gift for about 45 minutes before being (cont. next Pg.) picked up by the ‘SS Atlas’. Nunez said the‘SS Atlas’ commanded by a Capt. Waters is a vessel of the Panama Canal Company. He said the ‘Katie Lou’ was in 600’ of water when she hit the submerged object. Nunez is co-owner of the ‘Katie Lou’, as well as her skipper. Mr. GILBERT QUALIN of 4259 Chamoune Ave., the other co-owner; who was not aboard.
VALUED AT NEARLY $500,000
The ‘Katie Lou’, which was launched in January of 1947, was valued at between $400,000 and $500,000. (equivalent to approx. $4,613,091 today – ed.). Having a ship sink under him was not the first sea adventure for Capt. Nunez, reported to be the only Spaniard among the more than 300 captains of San Diego’s high seas fishing fleet.
In 1959 Nunez made a pioneering fishing cruise to the west coast of Africa. When he returned he reported, ‘The Atlantic is alive with tuna!’ On that 110-day voyage he was skipper of the tuna clipper, ‘CHICKEN OF THE SEA’. He reported that he and his crew of 17 men caught 450 tons of tuna in one period of 14 days of fishing. Nunez and his ‘Katie Lou’ also were seized in November of 1955 by an Ecuadorian Patrol Boat for alleged violation of that country’s fishing laws. He was later freed by the Ecuadoreans without penalty. The ‘Katie Lou’ was reported to have been 20 miles off the coast when she was seized.
FAMILY AS CREW
Then in 1956 the ‘Katie Lou’ became the first vessel of its type type ever to pass through the Panama Canal partly manned by the family of its skipper. On that voyage Nunez (with the cooperation of Panama Canal authorities) was permitted to take his wife, Connie, his daughter, then age 12, and his two sons, Joseph Jr., then 14, and Manuel, then age 5, on a voyage from Balboa, in Panama’s Canal Zone; to Ponce, Puerto Rico. Because the ‘Katie Lou’ was not licensed to carry passengers, Mrs. Nunez signed on as cook, and daughter signed on as an assistant cook. Eldest son Joseph Jr. was hired as a seaman, and younger brother Manuel as an apprentice seaman.
Nunez was born at Muroa, Coruna, Spain, and was brought to San Diego by his parents while still a baby. His father, Mr. Fidel Nunez (), was one of the last of the hardy mariners who came to the Pacific Coast via Cape Horn. While in grammar school student Nunez began going to sea during vacations with his father. He began his seafaring career on the large clippers as a crew member of the ‘CITY OF SAN DIEGO’.”
(Source: San Diego UNION & Daily Bee newspaper – Sunday,November 11, 1962 – Pg. 76/77 Pics)
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“TUNABOAT’S CREW IS PRESUMED SAFE – The co-owner of the San Diego tuna clipper ‘KATIE LOU’, which sank Thursday off the coast of Panama, last night said the 12 San Diego area crewman are presumed safe. Mr. GILBERT QUALIN of 4259 Chamoune Ave., part-owner of the 117’ purse seiner, said Panamanian authorities had reported that the crew left the vessel before it sank. The crew consisted of: Mr. Joe Nunez of 3110 Addison (now known as Avenida de Portugal – ed.) St., the skipper and co-owner of the clipper. Qualin identified the other crewmen as Jasper R. Allen of Escondido; Donald Moffatt of 122 Mitscher St., in Chula Vista; James Murphy of 4057 Epanow Ave.; Ira T. Smith of 817 Denby St.; ALFRED A. BRAGA, of 1977 Chatsworth Blvd.; ANTHONY QUALIN, of 4360 Gila Ave. (the co-owner’s brother); Leo Navarra of 2443 Kettner Blvd.; Gregoria S. Gomez of National City; Lorenzo Valazquez of 3681 Z St., Frank Tarantino of 410 M. Ave. in National City, and ERNEST P. SILVA of 3009 India St.”
(*Source: San Diego UNION & Daily Bee newspaper – Saturday,November 10, 1962 – Pg. 16)
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Editorial Note: It may be of interest to readers to know that Mr. Gilbert F. Qualin (age 21) was married to Miss Helen Nunez (age 18) in San Diego, California on Tuesday, September 13, 1938. Helen Nunez is the sister of the above Capt. Joe Nunez of the vessel ‘Katie Lou’.