FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
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At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Mail Boat Eyak Sinks, 4 Aboard Rescued
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A multi-agency party rescued four people from an 80-foot boat near Goddard Hot Springs in the pre-dawn hours Monday, just before the vessel rolled and sank, rescuers reported.
The M/V Eyak moments before sinking under water. (Photo by Jake Denherder)
A crew member from the M/V Eyak called for help on VHF Channel 16 just before 5 a.m., reporting the boat had run aground just off Calligan Island, 16 miles south of town, the Coast Guard said.
The Eyak provides mail service to Port Alexander, and was headed for the south Baranof Island community when it ran aground, rescuers said.
The Coast Guard called Sitka police, who called the fire department, which organized the response. The Coast Guard helicopters were out on other calls at the time but one of the aircraft arrived in time to stand by and offer assistance.
Lance Ewers, SAR division captain for the fire department, said a rescue team gathered quickly, including members of the police department, SFD dive rescue team and EMT volunteers, rescue coordinators from the search and rescue squad, and an Alaska Wildlife Trooper.
One team of six rescuers left town at 5:44 a.m. on the police department’s emergency response vessel, braving 25 knot winds and 10 foot seas. Another team with four rescuers responded in the Trooper vessel Courage.
SFD engineer Joe Danon said the first rescuers at the scene didn’t see anyone on board the Eyak, which was wedged on rocks a short distance from Calligan Island.
“We had trouble identifying where the people were,” Danon said. “We couldn’t see anything – it was dark and the weather was bad. ... Using a VHF they directed us to the port side.”
Eyak crew members Anna Zallau and Debra Rose, with the skipper’s dog, were in survival suits in a life raft tethered to the Eyak and ready to cast off if the boat started to sink. The other two crew members of the Eyak, owner and skipper David Castle and Charles Wlaslawski, were still aboard the stricken vessel, Danon said. Troopers said today they were also wearing survival suits when rescuers arrived.
Danon said the rescue vessel was able to get in close to the Eyak and pick up the two women from the life raft, as well as the men on the boat, in less than two minutes. The group then took refuge in a calm cove nearby. He estimated they were all on board the rescue vessel by 7:15 a.m., and the boat started back to Sitka immediately with three of the four Eyak crew aboard.
“It was not a place we wanted to stay very long,” Danon said.
The good Samaritan vessel Silver Arrow took the vessel owner Castle out with some dewatering pumps to try to rescue the Eyak, a wooden boat with steel plates on the hull, built in 1943. But the boat rolled off the rocks and sank, Danon was told.
“We were around the corner when it happened,” he said. From his understanding, the boat was wedged on the rocks and still taking on water. “The goal was to dewater the boat and get it back up,” Danon said. “By the time we transferred him onto the Silver Arrow ... when (the skipper) got back, it had rolled off the rocks – it listed to port side, and it went down.”
There were no medical conditions requiring treatment, officials said.
The Coast Guard said it will monitor the sinking site, since the Eyak had about 500 gallons of fuel on board when it went down.
Ewers said the rescue was a cooperative effort involving a number of agencies and volunteers, all of whom got up in the early morning hours and put together a well-organized plan for a quick response to the emergency.
“The fact that we got there 15 minutes before the boat went down – it ran so smoothly, getting people in the right place,” he said. “We all kind of worked together and got rescuers out there. Any hemming and hawing ... it would have been a problem.”
The team included police officers Ryan Silva and Brad Wheeler running the ERV, with Danon, Troy Tydingco (SFD dive rescue and EMT), Bob Reid (SFD dive rescue and EMT) and Herb McClenahan (dive team and EMT). Aboard the Courage were Fish and Wildlife Trooper Tim Hall, Pat Bean and Jake Denherder (search and rescue), and Dave Nelson (dive team).
Vicky Vosburg and Karen Royce were incident commanders for the search and rescue operation, working out of the fire hall.
The Coast Guard helicopter arrived as the rescue was under way and stood by to assist.
A fundraising effort is under way to help out Castle. Those interested in contributing can go to the website gofundme.com and type in the zip code to find Castle. At press time today, $13,115 had been raised.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....