July 25, 2013 — John Aldridge used his rubber boots as a life raft as he struggled to stay afloat in the Atlantic Ocean for nearly 12 hours before Coast Guard rescuers plucked him from the water Wednesday, more than 40 miles from where he had fallen overboard.
MASSACHUSETTS: Sign Up for Free Safety and Survival Training
July 24, 2013 — Fishing Partnership Support Services will be offering free safety and survival training sessions during the months of September and October. The locations and times of those events can be found below:
– Hull, MA – Point Allerton Coast Guard Station – Friday Sept. 13, 2013 – 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
– New Bedford, MA – UMASS Dartmouth (SMASS) – Friday Oct. 11, 2013 – 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
– Chatham, MA – Stage Harbor – Friday Oct.18, 2013 – 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
– Gloucester, MA – Coast Guard Station – Thursday Oct. 24, 2013 – 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Sign up and learn more with Fishing Partnership Support Services
Coast Guard outlines Osprey case response
July 9, 2013 — Police said Monday they are awaiting word from the state’s medical examiner on the cause of death for the man who died aboard the trawler Osprey Sunday, while Coast Guard officials explained why they called for the vessel to travel to Gloucester rather than launch a more immediate rescue mission when the vessel was still out to sea.
Crew members on board the herring trawler Osprey first contacted the Coast Guard regarding what appeared to be a “severe asthma attack” that caused Michael Grindle to collapse Sunday at around 3:45 a.m. The Coast Guard notified the Osprey’s crew that Coast Guard members would not be responding to the medical emergency at sea.
“There is a Coast Guard policy of how and when we send helicopters based on survival numbers after CPR,” Bryan Swintek, Command Center Chief at Sector Southeastern New England said Monday.
He explained that statistics show a person undergoing chest compressions will typically survive for under an hour without access to a heart defibrillator. A Coast Guard helicopter could have reached the 107-foot herring trawler in about two hours, but the trip to the hospital would expend another hour, he said.
Guard members from the Southeastern sector that received the emergency call instead instructed the crew to perform CPR on Grindle, and his colleagues on board pumped at his chest until about 4 a.m., when his pulse dropped away.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times
Fishermen, Boaters Urged to Seek Shelter During Thunderstorms
June 27, 2013 — This week is National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, and NOAA's National Weather Service has a stark message for fishermen and boaters: You are not safe outside during a thunderstorm. A new data review of deaths caused by lightning between 2006 and 2012 reveals that water-related activities (fishing, boating, beach, and swimming) make up 36 percent of all leisure-related deaths. Of the 152 lightning deaths that occurred while the victim was participating in a leisure activity, fishing tops the list at 26 deaths. Boating is high on the list at 14 deaths.
John Jensenius, a lightning safety specialist with the National Weather Service, said the large number of fishing and boating lightning deaths may occur because these activities require extra time to get to a safe place. “People often wait far too long to head to safety when a storm is approaching, and that puts them in a dangerous and potentially deadly situation,” he said.
Men make up 82 percent of lightning victims. The study offers possible explanations for this finding: males are unaware of all the dangers associated with lightning, are more likely to be in vulnerable situations, are unwilling to be inconvenienced by the threat of lightning, are in situations that make it difficult to get to a safe place in a timely manner, don't react quickly to the lightning threat, or any combination of these explanations. In short, because of their behavior, males are at a higher risk of being struck and, consequently, are struck and killed by lightning more often than females.
Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries
Possible New Jersey Tsunami May Have Been Triggered By Derecho
June 26, 2013 — Researchers are examining a possible meteotsunami that may have hit the coast of New Jersey June 13. The Tsunami Warning Center relayed an account of the events as seen by Brian Cohen, who was out spear fishing in the Barnegat Inlet in Ocean County when he saw waves that were approximately 6 feet peak-to-trough spanning across the inlet.
"Earlier in the day around noon, thunderstorms had moved through the area. By 3:30 p.m. [EDT] the weather was overcast with a light east wind. At approximately 3:30 [p.m. EDT], the outgoing tide was amplified by strong currents which carried divers over the submerged breakwater (normally 3-4 feet deep). This strong outrush continued for 1-2 minutes and eventually the rocks in the submerged breakwater were exposed. Brian backed his boat out before being sucked over as well."
The low-end derecho that pushed from Chicago to Washington, D.C., on June 13 may have sparked the possible meteotsunami on the New Jersey coast, said Paul Whitmore, Director of the Tsunami Warning Center.
"The first impulse was to see this as meteorologically driven, but once a system gets over the [continental] shelf, we lose data," he said. "It makes it hard to confirm."
It could take months before the event is officially confirmed one way or the other, but it seems likely at this time that the derecho may have caused the tsunami-like waves.
Read the full story at the Huffington Post
After boat capsizes, lobsterman, 90, swims to safety
HARPSWELL, Maine — June 12, 2013 — Philip Tuttle saw an opportunity and took it. With his wife preoccupied upstairs, he quickly scribbled a note — “Headed out to look for a trap. Be back shortly.” — and headed toward his boat Saturday afternoon.
Tuttle has hauled lobsters from the waters of Casco Bay for about 40 years. And he found the trap, but got a little too close to shore in the process. He hit a ledge, and the Queen Tut, his 26-foot lobster boat, began sinking.
“The boat just went right over on its side,” he said. “Within three minutes, it was sunk.”
Unable to reach a life jacket, Tuttle took a deep breath as the boat went down, pried loose a nearby buoy, and swam 30 yards, though it felt more like 2 miles, through chilly water to an island. Slowly, he clawed his way up the jagged rocks, barnacles slicing into his shins and arms with each movement.
Unable to reach a life jacket, Tuttle took a deep breath as the boat went down, pried loose a nearby buoy, and swam 30 yards, though it felt more like 2 miles, through chilly water to an island. Slowly, he clawed his way up the jagged rocks, barnacles slicing into his shins and arms with each movement.
Philip Tuttle is 90 years old.
He’s not supposed to lobster alone anymore. But Tuttle, a feisty and spry retired casket salesman who spends about three months a year lobstering, is not one easily told what to do. On Saturday, he sneaked out of the house.
“I get the Dickens for that,” he said with an impish grin Wednesday, sitting beneath a picture window overlooking the ocean.
Read the full story at The Boston Globe
Harpswell, Maine lobsterman, 90, swims to safety after boat sinks
June 10, 2013 — A 90-year-old Great Island man swam from his sinking lobster boat to a small island Saturday night before being rescued by his son-in-law.
Philip Tuttle was home Monday afternoon recovering from cuts and scrapes suffered in the ordeal, according to his daughter-in-law Verian Tuttle.
“He’s a pretty stubborn, feisty Mainer,” she said Monday.
Tuttle left his home late Saturday afternoon after leaving his wife a note that he was heading out to check a trap and would be right back, Verian Tuttle said. But when he didn’t return in time for dinner, they knew something was wrong.
Tuttle’s 26-foot-lobster boat, Queen Tut, had run aground off Gun Point sometime between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m., according to Jeff Nichols of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
“He’s very sharp — he really is — and he definitely was trying to find something to float on,” his daughter-in-law said. “He climbed out onto the ledge he hit, the tide was coming in now, so he knew he had to get to shore, and he had to swim about 30 yards. He’s a pretty good swimmer, or was in his day, and he made it ashore. He said he would crawl on the rocks a few inches at a time.”
In the meantime, Tuttle’s family headed down to the shore to look for him. After one son, Brooks Tuttle, took a skiff to search of the Queen Tut, another son, Stewart, and Tuttle’s son-in-law Michael Innis saw the boat’s muffler sticking out of the sea.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News
Fishermen’s group hosts fire safety program
May 16, 2013 — The Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership will be conducting free safety and survival training for commercial fishermen on Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Gloucester, 17 Harbor Loop. The day-long training is conducted by Coast Guard certified fishing vessel safety instructors.
This hands-on training includes instruction in: on-board firefighting, man overboard procedures, damage control, flood and pump procedures, donning and use of immersion suits, flares and EPIRBS, life raft deployment, emergency communications and emergency first aid. Fishermen should bring their own survival suits. Training suits will be available for those that do not have them.
“The recent tragic losses of four fishermen is a grim reminder of the inherent dangers of our industry,” said Capt. Sebastian Noto of the Gloucester-base fishing vessel Grace Marie. “This training program is an opportunity for area fishermen to get hands-on knowledge and experience on how to deal with the kind of life-threatening emergencies they are likely to encounter at sea.”
Lunch will be provided courtesy of the Ocean Marine Insurance Agency. This training is supported by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team (NCOIC) and the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership (MFP).
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times
85-Year-Old Fishing Captain Dies After Trawler Capsizes
May 12, 2013 — Stian Stiansen, captain of "Pauline," killed in maritime accident; crew member rescued.
A commercial fishing vessel capsized in the Shinnecock Inlet on Sunday afternoon in rough seas, killing its captain.
The man, 85-year-old Stian Stiansen, an East Quogue resident, was found dead in the water, by a jetty, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Kozak, of Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. A SeaTow boat pulled Scott Finne, a 42-year-old crew member, from the water and Finne said there was one other person missing, Kozak said.
At 1:50 p.m., Southampton Town police received several 911 calls that a 45-foot trawler, Pauline IV, had capsized. According to a police statement, they weren't sure how many people were aboard the vessel when it capsized. One person was seen from shore "clinging to a flotation device," police said.
Police notified a Coast Guard Station Shinnecock communications watchstander.
Sector Long Island Sound issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a response boat crew from the nearby Station Shinnecock, the Coast Guard said. Rescue crews from the station, Southampton Village police, Southampton Town Bay Constables, and various fire department water rescue squads descended upon the scene, along with a Suffolk County police aviation unit.
The helicopter located the Stiansen's body, the Coast Guard said. At about 3 p.m., he was found on the east side of the Shinnecock Inlet. He was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 40 minutes later.
The water in the inlet is about 50-degrees, he said.
Police called the SeaTow captain's efforts heroic. "In dangerous seas he navigated the inlet, located the subject observed in the water, and retrieved him safely," police said in a statement.
The Coast Guard reached the area within 15 minutes, according to Kozak. He said the rescue boat that started searching for the victim reported 8-foot breakers in the area. "That's pretty significant," he said.
Police said the accident occurred as the vessel was returning to the dock. Stiansen had taken the boat earlier that morning.
"With a vessel trying to make it through a small inlet like that it can be difficult," Kozak said, even for experienced fishermen. He said reports were that the boat was "picked up by the waves and thrown into the rocks and capsized. It probably happened pretty quick."
Finne, an Eastport resident, was not injured, but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The trawler came to rest on the beach east of the Shinnecock Inlet. The Coast Guard will remove it, police said.
The fire departments that responded included Hampton Bays, Southampton North Sea and Sag Harbor fire departments. The Hampton Bays and Southampton Village ambulances also responded, along with coordinators from Suffolk County Emergency Coordinators.
Southampton Town police detectives are investigating the maritime accident, Kozak said. Anyone with any information is asked to call 631-702-2230.
Free Safety & Survival Training For Commercial Fishermen
May 7, 2013 — On Friday, May 17, 2013, a free safety and survival training will be held at the Coast Guard Station, 17 Harbor Loop, Gloucester from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
The hands-on training, sponsored by Fishing Partnership Support Services, is conducted by Coast Guard certified fishing vessel safety instructors.
The Safety-at-Sea training program includes:
• On-Board Firefighting
• Man-Overboard Procedures
• Flooding & Pump Procedures
• Flares & EPIRBs
• Donning & Using Survival Suits
• Life Raft Deployment
• Damage Control
• Emergency Communication/First Aid
Please bring your own survival suits. Training suits are provided for those who do not currently have one. Lunch will be provided courtesy of Ocean Marine Insurance Agency.
For more information view the event flyer
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