A longtime Gloucester fisherman working on the Western Venture, one of the big herring boats that is owned by Peter Mullen and was trawling the mid water of Georges Bank, has died at sea after donning diving gear and going beneath the vessel to clear a snagged trawl net, police reported Wednesday.
The dead man was identified as Duane "Charlie" Rine, 51, who lived at 112 Bass Ave. Police said Rine was a certified diver; an associate of Rine's said he was so desirous to please that his answer to the directive: "Jump," would always be, "How high?"
A blogger who was crewing on the Osprey, working in tandem with the Western Venture, published a lengthy narrative of the incident. He described the same quality — a desire to serve the team — in Rine, who was said to be a Navy veteran.
"Diving on the Western Venture under those conditions was an incredibly brave act," the blogger said, "He knew how dangerous it was and went anyway."
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Daily Times.