The group of Tarpon Springs marine salvage boat crew freed last week from a prison in Honduras are back in the Bay area.

The Aqua Quest boat pulled into port in Tarpon Springs just after 10 a.m. Wednesday.
They were greeting by family and friends.

"I couldn't miss it," said Rosemary Carroll, mother of crew member Devon Butler. She flew from Pennsyvlania for the homecoming. "I just couldn't miss it."

"I just don't even know how to express what I'm feeling right now," said Lisa Marra, Mayne's girlfriend.

The crew was held in the country since early May. They are accused of bringing undeclared weapons into Honduras.

The company's president and captain, Robert Mayne, said he and his crew were kidnapped and the subject of an extortion attempt.

"It was an ordeal I would never want to see any human being go through," Mayne said. "We had no idea what was going to happen to us. We got caught in a trap of some very bad people down there.

"It was a full-out extortion attempt to kidnap us and extort us for money."

Aqua Quest specializes in marine archaeology and salvage. The men were working on a project in the town of Ahuas to remove valuable logs from a river. Honduran naval officials said they found guns on the crew's 65-foot boat as the workers entered port.

Crew members said the guns were for protection.

Mayne, along with Michael Mayne, Nick Cook, Devon Butler, James Garrett and Stephen Matanich were held at a prison in Puerto Lempira from May 5 through last week.

Mayne said the conditions were not pleasant.

"The jail was filthy," said Mayne, who added there were about 20 men sharing a 12 by 20 room in the prison. "There were no sanitary facilities, and plenty of roaches and mosquitoes."

The men deny they did anything wrong.  

As the men's detainment dragged from hours into days and weeks, U.S. diplomats and lawmakers became involved. Local U.S. Rep Gus Bilirakis and Vice President Joe Biden pressed for the men's release.

"They have to know if our people are going to go down there, they have to be safe," said Representative Bilirakis.

But they weren't freed until an Honduran appeals court ruled 3-0 that the men committed no crimes.

Mayne said despite the ordeal, he will return to the country.

"(I) don't want to bash the country of Honduras; I appreciate their system worked and they released us," Mayne said. "Down there, you have to have a protection system in place, and without a power base in place, you are at the mercy of others.

"The country is good; there are a lot of beautiful people down there."