Safely to shore
‘The story had a happy ending, but it could have been a tragic event’
Two local fishermen ended up making it safely to shore after running into trouble in Lingan Bay near Dominion on Tuesday.
But there were some tense moments for those trying to rescue the men, due to the unfavourable weather conditions.
“The story had a happy ending, but it could have been a tragic event,” said John Chant, fire chief of the Glace Bay Volunteer Fire Department.
At about 5 p.m., emergency dispatch sent out notification of two fishermen in distress. The vessel had run out of gas and the fishermen were battling extreme weather conditions.
The Glace Bay Fire Volunteer Department’s water rescue unit was called out to assist.
“The original call came that they were in Lingan Bay, proceeding to Glace Bay harbour.”
Chant said they sent their water rescue boat to Glace Bay Harbour but conditions were so bad that they instead commandeered a 45-ft. fishing vessel owned by Bruce Pittman, a member of the auxiliary coast guard.
“Our boat is much too small to be out in those seas.”
Chant said three of their water rescue members were onboard Pittman’s vessel.
“They left the mouth of the harbour but then immediately returned because conditions were so bad,” he said.
“It was extreme. They were saying 10- to 15-foot swells.”
After realizing they couldn’t get any vessels out to help the fishermen, Chant said they went to an area along the coast near St. Eugene’s graveyard on Royal Avenue to observe what was going on.
In the meantime, Lenny Barrington, fire chief of the New Waterford Volunteer Fire Department, said they had also received the emergency distress call and had left to assist, accompanied by two fishing boats, one owned by Jody Rockett and another by Marshall Woodland.
“All the fishermen — once they find out the name of the fishing boat — communicate on all their radios.”
Barrington also described conditions as “extreme.”
“They said they were hitting nine-foot waves.”
In midst of it all, Barrington said their New Waterford department received notification the fishing boat made it to shore in Dominion, so they turned back.
Eric Spencer, a retired active honorary member of the Dominion Volunteer Fire Department, said they also had members on shore in Dominion assisting.
“We were on shore acting as spotters, keeping an eye on them and where they were. The police were there too.”
Chant said the stranded fishermen ended up paddling to shore in Dominion in an area near the graveyard by 35-40 ft. cliffs.
“There was no access to them due to the water against the shoreline.”
As a result Chant said they called in their high angle rescue team as well as the New Victoria Fire Department’s high angle rescue team.
“We both work hand-inhand.”
The two departments were setting up to repel over to rescue the fishermen however in the meantime the fishermen managed to make it up themselves.
“The two individuals decided to risk walking around the shoreline against our better judgement,” Chant said.
“They were definitely shook up and of course, soak to the bone.”
Chant said he feels the fishermen just wanted to have it all over with as there were a lot of resources on shore there to help them.
“I think it was a bit of embarrassment and I think when you’re in a situation you try the best you can to get out yourself,” he said.
“It was a distress call and we’re going to deploy everything we can to help them out. In the end they ended up self-rescuing themselves. It worked out great, but it could have been really bad.”