Boat found, but men still missing!!
By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief, SKNVibes.com
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Keita Williams
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FV LADY SEA, the boat in which the three men had gone on a fishing trip on Tuesday evening, was found but two men remain missing.
Speaking with Evanston Seabrookes, who resides in Newtown and owns the fishing vessel, SKNVibes was told that the FV LADY SEA was discovered wrecked in the Canoe Bay area on the same night it capsized.
Seabrookes said he was informed that the 18-foot fiberglass boat was found in a state of disrepair, but he had not yet gone to the area where it could be located.
“I was told that my boat was found on the same night of the tragedy. It was in pieces and so I did not go to the area where it was found because I am more concerned about the two men. You can always replace a boat and engine but you cannot replace lost lives,” Seabrookes said.
Public Affairs Officer of the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, Lieutenant Kayode Suton, earlier informed SKNVibes that about 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, February 19, Collin Matthew of East Street, Newtown reported to the Coast Guard Base that he, Keita Williams and Kasim Dula Maynard went out in a fishing boat to retrieve fish traps they had set around the Canoe
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Kasim Dula Maynard
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Bay area in the South East Peninsula.
“Matthew explained that a high wave suddenly hit the boat causing it to capsize and the three of them started swimming towards the shore,” Sutton said. He noted Matthew claimed that the incident occurred about 250 metres from Canoe Bay’s shore, close to the Sand Banks Beach.
Sutton said Matthew further explained that they were swimming against the tide and at one stage when he looked to his rear he saw the two men making their way in his direction, “towards the shore”.
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Collin Izum Matthew
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“However, Matthew claimed that when he looked around again he did not see them. So, on reaching dry land he looked around the area in search of them, but they were nowhere to be found. He then made his way to the Coast Guard Base and reported the incident,” Sutton said.
Sutton said the Coast Guard immediately dispatched a number of men in boats to conduct searches for the missing men, which to date have proven futile.
Seabrookes confirmed that Matthew had indeed gone to retrieve fish traps as he stated, and dispelled rumours of a drug pick up.
He said Matthew was working with him for the past 12 years and he had left on the night in question to clear the traps of all fish caught.
“It is now over three months since I have set 13 fish traps in that area and the last time they
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Evanston Seabrookes
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were cleared and reset is Friday, February 8 this year. I was attempting to clear them last week Friday and again on Monday, but I did not because of bad weather.
However, on Tuesday Matthew told me that he would be going out there to haul the traps and I later received the sad news.
“We fish for our living and this incident had nothing to do with any drugs. It has to do with fish, not drugs as some people are saying.” Seabrookes said.
He described fishing as a tough and rough profession, and the area in which the incident occurred as very dangerous, but a very good fishing ground.
“Fishing is not an easy profession as some people believe. They do not know the agony of the fishing industry. It is rough and tough, and that part of the Atlantic Ocean is very dangerous. Sometimes when we are out in the ocean, and yet close to shore, we would see waves swell to about 20-25 feet and they come from more than one direction,” Seabrookes said.
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| Area within the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site where the FV SEA LADY and many other fishing vessels moor |
He explained that while one or two waves may be approaching a vessel from the eastern direction, another may simultaneously approach from the north eastern, “but you have to learn how to smile with the waves”.
As safety and precautionary measures, Seabrookes said all fishermen when out at sea should be armed with an anchor, life jacket, rope and a cellular phone, which must be waterproofed.
He also noted that in the distant past all fishermen used to observe a certain law of the sea.
“In the past, when you go fishing, you were supposed to inform the Coast Guard where you are going, when you are leaving, how long you intend to be out there, and at what time you should be expected back. You would also give them your cell phone number and inform them when you return.”
Seabrookes is of the view that if this was mandated, then it should be enforced; and the authorities should have it mandated if it were not.
