Sometime during the night in November of 1997, the automatic bilge pump aboard the boat came on. It started its normal routine of pumping the small amount of water overboard that will accumulate in the bilge of most boats. Unfortunately, after the pump shut off, the "check valve" that was connected to the pump discharge line failed to close correctly. This allowed water to siphon into the boat, as the discharge line was located below the waterline. Gradually the bilge began to fill with water from the Bay. It took many hours for the boat to slowly "sink" in her berth. It wasn’t until someone noticed that Santana’s decks were nearly awash before anything was done to prevent her from going completely to the bottom of the yacht harbor. In what must have been one of the most painful moments of her celebrated career, the boat was severely damaged--possibly even permanently beyond repair. After months of deliberation the owners decided to settle with the insurance company and then elected to sell the boat. Santana sat in her berth at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, damaged from the sinking, her interior completely torn apart and very much needing someone to come along and embrace the yacht with the enthusiasm needed to bring her back to life…enter Paul and Chrissy Kaplan in July of 1998. < previous - Tom & Ted Eden | Paul & Chrissy Kaplan - next >