Tragedy for boaters...

I heard the Coast Guard report on the VHF while in the marina office as they pulled the drowning victim from the water.  This was extremely sad to hear.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-10-25/story/mayport-shrimpboat-capsizes-one-dead

Mayport shrimp boat capsizes; 1 dead

By Paul Pinkham

A Mayport shrimper was able to rescue the captain of a shrimp boat that took on water and capsized Monday off Amelia Island but was too late to save a crewman.

“When we got there to them, we just pulled them out of the water. That’s all I could do,” said lifelong shrimper Tony Malone. “It feels good, but it feels kind of sad because you couldn’t save the other person, too.”

Malone, first mate on the shrimping vessel Joe Bip, said his boat got a distress call about 3 p.m. from the 36-foot Miss Alberta, which was shrimping nearby, about a half mile from shore.

They rushed to help, and Malone dove into the water to save the two-member crew.

“The boat was already upside down,” he said.

He said he found the captain, who he and witnesses identified as Bo King of Mayport, swimming with his dead crew member tethered to him with a rope.

“A captain will do anything to try to keep his crew together, whether dead or alive,” Malone explained.

Neither the Coast Guard or Florida Fish and Wildlife officers would name the deceased shrimper, pending notification of his next of kin. No cause of death was announced.

Officers wouldn’t say what caused the boat to capsize.

Fish and Wildlife officers said the Joe Bip was one of two vessels that assisted in the rescue.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detectives and the Duval County Medical Examiner’s Office also were on the scene at the Safe Harbor dock in Mayport, where the body was brought Monday night.

King, clearly shaken by the tragedy, declined to speak with reporters.
Other shrimpers and their families and friends gathered at the dock.

“Anything can happen on a shrimp boat,” said lifelong shrimper John Diaz, 39, of Mayport.

He said his boat was about seven miles away and was unable to get to the Miss Alberta in time.

 “When something happens to one person, it happens to all of us,” Diaz said. “We’re just like family out here.”

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4107