THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601200286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS ISLAND LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
Winds were howling across the Atlantic at more than 50 miles an hour. Fifteen-foot waves were smashing across the 74-foot trawler's bow. Water was rising through the floorboards.
Shortly before dawn Friday, about 2 miles off this Outer Banks island, Capt. Forest Williams Jr. finally gave up the fight to save the ``Shawna Louise.'' He radioed the Coast Guard and then told his crew to get ready to abandon ship.
``It got to a point where the sea seemed to be everywhere. It was washing us around on deck so bad we had to hold on just to stay aboard,'' Williams said in a telephone interview about 4 p.m. from the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Station. ``I was getting a little worried. And she kept taking on more water. Finally, I just said, `The heck with it. She's going down. We gotta get off.' ''
Shortly after daybreak, a Coast Guard helicopter soared over the sinking wooden vessel - and a 41-foot rescue boat arrived from Hatteras Island. By that time, ocean water in the engine room had climbed above Williams' waist. He and his two crewmen jumped into the seething sea.
``It was kind of heartbreaking, going into the Atlantic and leaving my boat behind,'' said the captain. ``It was even worse to watch it float away.''
Williams, 30, and two other commercial fishermen left their Pamlico, N.C., homes three days ago for a 10-day flounder fishing trip in the Atlantic. The weather was fine - and they caught a lot of fish the first two days. Then, Williams said, the storm moved in on them.
By 1 a.m. Friday, the boat was rocking so badly that the watermen couldn't work. They pulled their nets and gear out of the ocean. The weather worsened.
Two hours later, seawater began seeping through the bottom of the vessel.
``We'd all been up all night because of the storm. So we saw when it started leaking. But we couldn't tell where,'' Williams said. ``We took a couple of hard seas that may have busted some boards. We also may have hit something in the ocean. We had four pumps going at one time. But we just couldn't keep up with the water coming in.''
Williams called the Coast Guard about 5 a.m., when the ocean had climbed above his ankles in the engine room. By daybreak - about 6:30 a.m. - an orange and white helicopter was hovering overhead. The Elizabeth City helicopter crew dropped Williams another pump.
But by then, the captain knew his craft was going down.
He and his two crew members, Willie Wilson, 28, and Gregory Respers, 27, donned survival suits while a rescue swimmer in the helicopter readied a wire basket. Williams sent the other watermen overboard first, into the 42-degree Atlantic. Then, he retrieved his electronic emergency locating device so the distress signal wouldn't sound when the boat went down.
``I grabbed my wallet and whatever I could stick in my pockets. Then, I dumped out my duffle bag and grabbed my Bible from it,'' said Williams. ``That's the last thing I got before I jumped off the stern.''
Coast Guard rescue swimmer John Williams, 22, was ready when the watermen went overboard. He'd practiced this maneuver many times, but he'd never gotten to test his training in a real rescue.
A hydraulic hoist lowered the swimmer and basket into the raging Atlantic. Within a half-hour, one by one, the Coast Guard rescuer had gotten all three fishermen into the basket - and safely back on board the helicopter.
The trawler, still sinking, floated slowly toward shore.
``Usually, we try to avoid going in. But any time there's people in the water, we have to go get them,'' John Williams said a few hours after his first rescue. ``It was difficult to swim in those 15-foot seas, not to mention trying to help someone else. The waves kept dropping out and bouncing the basket around. We had to time each hoist to the waves.''
None of the watermen was hurt in the incident. All arrived safely at the Elizabeth City Coast Guard station, where officers gave them a hot meal. Williams and his crew napped in the Coast Guard lounge until his father picked them up and took them home.
``We're all doing fine. But I'm ready for a shower,'' Forest Williams said after notifying an insurance company about the accident. ``I've lost my boat. I'm pretty sure it's gone for good. I've lost all my gear. I guess I'm unemployed for now. It sure was a relief to see those Coast Guard guys, though.
``I just keep wondering if I could've done something more to save her,'' Williams said of the 18-year-old ship that his father owned and he had captained for the past two months.
``I live on that boat most of the time, you know. I was heartsick watching it wash away.'' ILLUSTRATION: WHAT HAPPENED:
1 a.m. Friday: A storm caused Shawna Louise to rocking so badly
that the watermen couldn't work. They pulled their nets and gear out
of the ocean. The weather worsened.
3 a.m.: Seawater began seeping through the bottom of the vessel.
``We had four pumps going at one time. But we just couldn't keep up
with the water coming in,'' Capt. Forest Williams Jr. said.
5 a.m.: The ocean had climbed above the captain's ankles in the
engine room. He called the Coast Guard.
6:30 a.m.: The Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead, but
the vessel was going down. The helicopter crew dropped another pump
to Williams.
7:00 a.m.: The captain and two crew members put on survival suits
while a rescue swimmer in the helicopter readied a wire basket. The
crew entered the 42-degree Atlantic.
By 7:30 a.m.: The Coast Guard rescuer had gotten all three
fishermen, one by one, into the basket - and safely back on board
the helicopter.
KEYWORDS: RESCUE US COAST GUARD by CNB