Fishing boat captain remembered as hero
Posted Dec 18, 2009 05:20:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A fishing boat captain who went down with his ship is being remembered as a hero for helping get his crew to safety.
David Trask, 60, is considered lost at sea after his dragger, the Pubnico Explorer, went down in stormy seas off Yarmouth..
The dragger was carrying thousands of kilograms of fish when it was hit by three big waves Wednesday, rolled over and sank some 30 kilometres northwest of Yarmouth.
The Coast Guard cutter Westport rescued three crewmembers who managed to make it to a life raft, but Trask wasn’t seen after the boat sank.
Trask’s ex-wife tells the Herald he made sure the three crewmen put on their survival suits and got them off the boat. One minute later it sank with Trask apparently still on board.
Coast Guard ships and aircraft searched for him until Thursday afternoon, but Maj. Dennis McGuire of the Search and Rescue centre in Halifax says the search for him has been called off.
“We’ve exhausted all avenues and are fairly confident that there’s no likelihood of survival,” he said.
Fellow fisherman Kevin Melison tells Global News Trask was well known in the fishing community, and he will be missed.
“It’s very hard around Christmas time to see somebody not come home after a trip fishing,” he said. “There ain’t a whole lot that you can say or do about it, but grieve a little bit for every fisherman who’s out on the sea in these rough seas and hard winds.”
The matter is now being handled by the RCMP as a missing person’s case.
