When Anthony Saputo promised his fishing buddies he would put them right on top of the fish, he did not intend to put the 48-foot Viking sportfisher he was driving in the center of an offshore tuna pen holding $3 million worth of prime bluefin tuna or cause an international incident. But that's exactly what he did.

While cruising at 12 knots in calm seas 62 miles off San Diego in international waters at 3:30 a.m. on July 19, Saputo's boat, the Senor Hefe, struck something dimly lit. The force drove the 25-ton boat clear over the floating PVC tubing on the 100-yard wide floating pen, damaging both propellers and the starboard shaft, causing the starboard engine to quit. Only after turning on the deck floodlights did the crew realize what they had hit. "It was pitch black," said Senor Hefe's owner Wayde Nichols. "I couldn't see anything." Nichols quickly discovered the pen was also under tow.

Nichols, 44, of Vista, CA, is no newbie. He's a former Coast Guard boarding officer and is small boat coxswain-certified. He's been around boats his entire life and has owned a large sportfisher for 10 years. Nichols was in familiar territory – heading to the abundant bluefin tuna grounds known locally as "the 295," trying to avoid the well-known and growing number of tuna pens along the coast by plotting a course that took his boat outside the Coronado Islands.

Wayde Nichols and Gary Bobel, hold a few tuna from the pen in which their 48-foot Viking Senor Hefe was caught.These pens, also called tuna ranches, are mostly owned by Mexican businessmen and operate by holding wild caught tuna offshore until the fish reach export size. The bluefin tuna are fattened with sardines for four to nine months before they are harvested for commercial sale – 95 percent go to Japan where the belly meat of this Pacific Coast fish is considered premium sushi.

'MORDITA'

Striking the pen in this location was a shock to Nichols who said he responded quickly by putting his motors in neutral before going below to ensure his boat wasn't sinking. "When you hit something at that speed, the first thing to snap off are the rudders — they're just not designed to hold any kind of weight," he said. "Then I contacted the Coast Guard and told them that we hit and were stuck in a tuna pen."

Nichols was familiar with this area, and one of his main concerns was that the Mexican federales would soon be on their way and things could get "dicey." "The Mexican federales are known for seizing boats, taking them into Ensenada, putting people in jail and extorting money out of them – it's called 'Mordita'," Nichols said.

Nichols asked the Coast Guard to stand by while he reached the vessel towing the pen, which was about 2,000 feet away. He did not get an answer using the radio, so he used flares, but still no response. Then he used a spotlight from the top of the bridge, continually flashed the towing vessel until he got a response. Almost two hours passed before the vessel responded by sending an inflatable and crew. On arrival they first checked the pen to make sure that the tuna were okay and had not escaped.

"They actually asked me to shut down my motors and I said I would not do that," said Nichols. "I understood that the motors were scaring the fish, but I know it's not smart to turn off a boat when you're 30 miles out at sea. I also knew there might be a chance for me to get free and I just wanted to be able to do that when the time came."

A 12-hour ordeal ensued, which involved many twists and risks, including Nichols being transferred to the towing vessel to speak directly with a Korean owner (who leased the tuna ranch from the Mexicans) via satellite phone. Nichols also maintained constant communications with the Coast Guard.

EXPENSIVE FISH

"The Korean owner wanted me to speak to him to make sure I understood that I would have to be patient and that there was a lot of money involved – $3 million worth of tuna, and that they had to protect their catch. They said they didn't know what they would do, but they would come up with a plan."

Back on the Senor Hefe, the five-member crew had "pow wows" of their own. "We were trying to think it through. We could cut our way out or try and drive back over the floating PVC rail. But, if we tried that, things could get way worse so we decided to see what the Koreans came up with," said Nichols.

"In the meantime, everybody and their brother began showing up. We had four tuna purse seiners, private vessels and sportfish boats driving past, all with their cameras out," said Nichols.

The Koreans decided to direct another tuna pen from 10 miles away to the site and transfer the fish. They also alerted the Mexican authorities. The Koreans said once the fish were safely removed, they would look at getting the Senor Hefe out of the pen by either sinking the tube so the Senor Hefe could drive over the pen or towing the pen back to Ensenada and using a crane to remove the boat.

"This is when it started getting dicey," said Nichols. "I notified the Coast Guard that the Mexican federales were on their way. I told the Coast Guard I would not let the Mexicans on my boat and that I would resist."

Highly-prized Bluefin tuna being prepared at the Tokyo (Tsukiji) fish market in Japan.The Koreans allowed the Senor Hefe crew to fish the remaining tuna in the net. Nichols and his buddies put their sardine-baited lines in and quickly hooked up. But as the fish were hitting, the lines were breaking when the tuna dove and the lines rubbed against the net. The Mexicans on the tuna seiners stood around and laughed until Nichols grabbed a two-speed Tiagra with 80-pound test, tied a hook right onto the line and tightened down the drag. "Basically I was cane-poling 40-pound tuna into the boat," Nichols said laughing. "It was so much fun."

The men landed 16 blue fin tuna, ranging in size from 25 to 40 pounds. "The crew of the seiners were hanging with us," Saputo said. "They were all sitting on the tuna pen fishing with bleach bottles wrapped with mono with a spark plug as a sinker."

MEXICAN NAVY

But the festive mood didn't last long as the Mexican Navy arrived. "They were armed to the hilt: standing on deck with machine guns and bulletproof vests and telling me that they were going to board my boat," said Nichols.

Nichols quickly updated the Coast Guard: "The Mexican Navy is right here and they have made it very clear that they want to board my vessel. They are trying to figure out how they are going to get on this boat." The Senor Hefe was still in the middle of the 100-yard-wide tuna pen, preventing the Mexican Navy vessel from coming alongside. The Coast Guard told Nichols to stand by, but shortly came back saying the cutter Sea Otter was en route. ETA: two hours.

Suddenly, a diver from the Mexican Navy ship swam over and started using a hack saw to cut through the PVC pipe. Nichols updated the Coast Guard radioman, who replied that a Coast Guard helicopter was on its way. ETA: 35 minutes.

The Mexican Navy crew cut through the pipe, tied their vessel to the tube and started backing down to open up the ring.

As if on cue, the Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene as the Senor Hefe was freed from the net. But the Coast Guard presence did not stop the Mexican Navy, which continued to attempt to board the Senor Hefe, Nichols said.

"The Coast Guard helicopter came right down in between us, and the wind and the water coming off those blades basically blew them right out of the way," Nichols said. Nichols put his boat in gear and headed for the Coast Guard cutter, which by now was on the horizon. The Mexican Navy vessel made no further moves as the Senor Hefe pulled away, under Coast Guard helicopter escort.

BROKEN BOAT

Some 48 hours after heading out on their fateful fishing trip, the Senor Hefe arrived back in Mission Bay, CA, on one engine and a heavily vibrating shaft. The boat sustained about $30,000 in damage – besides bending both props and one shaft, her hull was gouged from slamming against the pen. While Nichols is fully insured, he is on the hook for the $7,500 deductible.

A legal battle is set to ensue between Nichols' insurance company and the tuna ranch business, which claims the pen was lit and in compliance with Mexican navigational rules. But Nichols said the tuna pen had only two small battery-operated fluorescent lights that were the size of his fist, and one tiny radar reflector.

"Those things are a navigational hazard. They are black, low profile and made out of PVC plastic which doesn't reflect on radar. To make matters worse, on a calm night, there's no splashing so you can't see them," he said. "My boat could've easily sunk when we hit that thing. It could have gotten real ugly."

Nichols can't praise the Coast Guard enough for their efforts. "The Coast Guard did an absolutely superb job," he said. "They made the right calls and when it came time to enforce my American citizenship and protect me, they did an absolutely perfect job. They couldn't have done better."

But the Coast Guard's version of the events is less dramatic. Commander Guy Pearce said the Mexican Navy was acting in a search and rescue capacity and arrived on scene to assist the Senor Hefe. "The helicopter at no time used any aggressive maneuvering nor did they use any rotor wash to move a vessel around," Pearce said.