The Beaufort County man, who was rescued from a fishing boat that capsized off the Maryland coast, talked about how he almost lost his life.
"[It was the] biggest wave I've ever seen. When it caught us, that was it, it was over," said Patrick Small, who lives in the town of Bath. "Fifteen seconds and our boat was in pieces."
Small was one of three men aboard the 67-foot fishing boat, Seafarer, when it sent out a distress signal at about 10:39 a.m. Wednesday, 15 miles east of Assateague Island, MD. The two other crew members, 80-year-old Walter Tate and his nephew, 60-year-old Stephen Tate, both of Pamlico Beach, are still missing.
Small said there was no time to prepare for what happened.
"The wave crested and came out and smashed our side and it started filling up with water," Small said. "The water had me pinned to the roof and a second later, the pressure just ripped the roof off and pummeled the cabin, washed me out onto the back."
The Coast Guard found Small clinging to a raft, and was able to hoist him to safety on Wednesday. But Small said staying alive was not easy.
"The nurse told me I shouldn't have lasted 45 minutes in that water. I was in it for about an hour and a half before I could get a life raft," Small said. "If I wasn't out there and it happened to me, I wouldn't believe the stuff that I was telling you."
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Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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