Grateful crew
Captain of boat that capsized Monday hopes to be back on water Wednesday
The captain of Roping the Wind says he and his crew have much to be grateful for. Nick Lewis was guiding his boat out of Hardy’s Channel late Monday morning with his second load of lobster gear, when the boat ran aground. In an interview from his Lennox Island home on Tuesday, Lewis said his boat immediately started to fill with water, and was listing to one side within a minute.
“We’re really appreciative of the fishermen who came to our assistance quickly. We owe them our lives. They were great,” he said.
Lewis and three of his crew members were rescued by two fishing boats that were returning to port empty. The fourth crew member was rescued by port chairman, Lyndon Hardy, who sailed out in response to a call for assistance.
Lewis, his wife, Elizabeth Mitchell and Jordan Gallant were all rescued by Chris Broome and his crew aboard Spring Loaded ’04.
David Clements, captain of Dustin’s Dream, rescued David Bernard from the icy waters after he had lost his grip during a rescue attempt by Broome. Lawrence Sock, at the urging of Hardy, climbed across the load of traps and jumped into Hardy’s boat.
Lewis and his crew had all pulled on life jackets as soon as their boat ran aground. Clements was about five kilometres away when they heard the call for assistance.
“We were pretty nervous coming in, but once we got there, instinct sort of kicked in and we just had to get him in.”
Clements said the frigid water had already zapped Bernard’s energy and he was suffering from a gash to his nose. He said the man overboard had only managed to get his lifejacket partly on. It was over his head and he was holding onto it with one arm.
“We threw the (life) ring, and the ring kept drifting away from him. He didn’t have much (energy). He couldn’t swim; he couldn’t move. It took us three tries to get it close enough, so he could grab it. “He said he couldn’t hold on. We kept encouraging him: ’Hold on. We’ve got you, we’ve got you.’”
Clements and his three crew members pulled Bernard aboard and provided him with a dry coat and boots. Clements said Hardy risked his own boat by running it aground to get close enough to rescue the last of Roping the Wind’s crew.
“The boat was leaning like this (describing a 45-degree angle), and (Sock) was standing close to the water, and he had to climb up the traps to get to Lyndon’s boat and they hauled him in.”
Then it was a matter of the rescue boats forcefully getting off the sandbar and going full throttle back to port.
“It’s a miracle we got through it,” Clements said. “The surf is what helped us. It kept bumping us off the sand.”
All crew members but Sock required medical treatment for hypothermia following Monday’s rescue.
Lewis praised his crew for following his and the rescuers’ instructions throughout the ordeal, and he extended thanks to Lennox Island Band Council and Fishermen’s Pride for lending him a boat so he can get back to fishing. He has also received offers of traps, rope and buoys to replace the gear that is now a mangled mess around Roping the Wind. He was still in need of tags for his replacement gear but said that process is underway.
He hopes to be back on the water Wednesday. Although he did not save any of his electronics, Lewis said he thinks he can find the 150 traps that he had already set prior to Monday’s ordeal.