Celebrate and appreciate life and your loved ones

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ROM Newf

New member
Not my hubby but my son.
Very scary. It was a container ship and the ship was off course at least 5 miles north of the established shipping lanes in an area set aside for fishing. Mike, Ben & Geal were pulling in the gillnet (which is a stationary fishing net that stays there 24/7) when they looked up and saw the container ship just before it sliced their boat in half. Unfortunately, Mike's dog died. He had been sleeping in "his corner" of the wheelhouse. The ship probably never even realized it had hit the boat.
 
Taylor's mom

Taylor's mom

New member
Oh how scary!!! Yes we should appreciate EVERY minute we can with those we care about. The little things that cause problems never seem to matter anymore after a something bad has happened. Funny how we can't seem to remember that...


I am happy that everything turned out okay for the men. :D I am very sorry to hear about the dog.


[ 05-23-2004, 07:10 PM: Message edited by: Taylor's mom ]
 
BoundlessNewfs

BoundlessNewfs

New member
There must have been a guardian angel looking out for your son and his friends, for them to come away from that unharmed. I am so sorry to hear about his poor dog. Things like this do remind us how precious and fleeting life can be, and to make the most of the times we have with our loved ones.

Glad to hear that they are all OK.
 
brady

brady

New member
Taylor's Mom said it all. I am so glad you son is ok, my heart sank. My boys used to lobster, I would worry every time they went out.
 
NewfMom

NewfMom

New member
I'm glad your son and his friends are safe. I feel bad for your son for losing his dog. Boats can be replaced. People and dogs can't
 
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FuzzyDustBunnies

New member
How scary!! I'm glad to hear your son and his friends are ok. I'm sure this is something they won't forget anytime soon. It's things like this that make you truly appreciate the little things in life.
I'm really sorry about the dog, too. Poor guy. I'm sure he'll be missed.
 
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Giddyuppy

Inactive Member
WOW!!! How, right you are! Celebrate life when we have it...tell those that you love that you love them...and praise the Lord for every day that He gives to us!

How very fortunate you are to have your son with you, today!
 
R

ROM Newf

New member
Thanks everyone.
Still having a tough time believing it happened.
The really scary thing is that the Coast Guard told Geal and his crewmates that so far this year, 10!!!!, yes, 10 fishing boats have been run over by tankers/freighters/container ships!!!

http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=5D872708-D099-4480-9F0B-05A786B75D66

We've had some comical moments since the incident too. Nextel is having a difficult time understanding why Geal can't retrieve his cell phone or the simms card from the bottom of the ocean. When he called Nextel, the woman kept asking why he couldn't return his old phone so he could get a new one. He kept telling her it was at the bottom of the ocean to which she kept asking why he couldn't go get it. Dumb but comical. Today one of the TV stations left all kinds of messages for Geal on our answering machine. He ignored them- didn't want to do an interview. Tonight, we took my husband's lobster boat (named "Stacy & Geal II" and Geal is our son's name)- over to a local lobster-in-the-rough/clam shack across the river. The fishing boat that sank was always docked at this place. Anyway, we arrive and what is set up by the dock but the mobile van for the TV station that had been calling our house all day. We got off our boat & the news reporter invited us to watch the broadcast. She was standing there looking directly at our boat and we were wondering how long it was going to take for her to make the connection between the name of our boat and our son- let's face it, Geal is not a common name! She got all the way thru her news piece when you could see the lightbulb go on.- We were practically hysterical with laughter. After she did her reporting, she came up to Geal and said "You're the crew member we've been trying to track down all day, aren't you."
At least we're laughing...

[ 05-24-2004, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: ROM Newf ]
 
alexmaddy

alexmaddy

New member
OMG :eek:

I'm so sorry that this happenned but so thankful your son is alive. I feel terrible about his poor dog, however. This type of situation is completely foreign to me so forgive me ignorance...but is there any type of legal recourse your son and the rest of the crew could take against the ship that squashed them??? I'm curious because it was likely that it was an international ship what do you do about that? What are maritime laws like??? This is completely foreign to me.

I still cannot forget about your son's dog. I'm so sorry. mj
 
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dogger

New member
Linda, thank heavens your son and his friends are OK. But again the poor dog. I would be crushed.
MJ took the question right out of my fingers. Is there nothing that can be done considering your son is now without his lively hood? Is there any way to track down the container ship that struck them?
I know with the fog they were most likely not able to see the markings on the boat, but dont the ships have to keep a log of their location? How many boats could have possible been in the vacenity (sp?)
 
Sailorgirl

Sailorgirl

New member
Oh my gosh, how scary. Thank goodness they had an EPIRB that functioned correctly. Unfortunately the CG is right ... this happens WAY more often than people realize. About 4 or 5 years ago the last fishing tug (the Linda E.) in our city (which was founded on a fishing heritage) was struck by an integrated tug and barge and sunk immediately. The three crew were lost. It was a mystery what had happened for almost a year until FINALLY state senators got involved and convinced someone to search for the boat with an underwater camera. What they found was incredible. The captain of the tug and barge had no idea they hit them (the barge was identified because it had paint from the fishing boat on it's bow) although they reported seeing a cluster of seagulls (seagulls tend to follow fishing boats). This is on Lake Michigan on December 12. There are basically NO boats on the lake that time of year. The odds of one running over another is incredible. It was a crystal clear flat calm day.

MJ .. unfortunately maritime law is about as ridiculous as it gets and right-of-way has a lot of caveats to it. I assume the CG will do an investigation, but if this case is like most, it's likely the capt. of the ship will get a slap on the wrist at best. In the case here the families sued the shipping company but it was settled for a pittance.

I am so relieved that this didn't turn out any worse, but I'm so sorry your son lost his dog. How terrifying for you all.

[ 05-25-2004, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: Sailorgirl ]
 
Annie Milliron

Annie Milliron

Alpha Goddess
WOW! I just now saw this! I'm sorry that you have had to experience this... and am very glad that your son and his friends survived. I'm very sorry about the dog.... that must be devastating for his owner.
 
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ROM Newf

New member
Maritime law is terrible.
The Coast Guard thinks that they've located the container ship that hit the boat- but it now up to Mike (the captain/owner of the fishing boat) and the Coast Guard to prove that it was this particular ship that hit them. The Coast Guard wanted paint samples so they could compare them to the paint on the bow of the ship. Hopefully, Mike has something with the paint on it. The guys were supposed to meet with the Coast Guard today but I haven't heard the results of that meeting. I really feel bad for Mike. He's a young "kid"- only about 28 years old, married with one young child and another one on the way. He's lost his dog and his boat.
My son (Geal) will be fine. In addition to fishing with Mike, Geal also lobsters with my husband and is a mechanic for a snow removal/landscape company.
 
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