ANGLER HEARD SOUNDS OF LIFE EBB AWAY FROM OUTSIDE CAPSIZED CRAFT.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Steve Smith reached out with a harpoon harpoon (härp  n`), weapon used for spearing whales and large fish. The early type was a flat triangular piece of metal with barbed edges and a socket for attaching a wooden handle, to the and tapped on the hull of the capsized fishing boat. He heard a rapping in response - strong at first, but then fainter and fainter until there was only silence, followed by what sounded like sucking air. By the time the Coast Guard arrived with rescue divers, it was too late. All three commercial fishermen trapped in the boat were dead. ``We just felt completely helpless,'' said Smith, himself a fisherman. ``There was nothing we could do.'' The dead included a fisherman out on the boat for the first time. The vessel, the 45-foot Heather Lynne II, flipped in the fog Thursday morning 45 miles northeast of Boston near a tugboat tugboat, small, strongly built vessel, used to guide large oceangoing ships into and out of port and to tow barges, dredging and salvage equipment, and disabled vessels. that was towing a barge. The bodies were pulled from under the boat more than two hours after the 5:24 a.m. distress call. Coast Guard officials said they didn't know how the accident happened. But the crew of the tugboat Houma claimed the Heather Lynne II was trying to pass between the tug and the barge. New York-based Eklof Marine, which owns the tug, also owned the barge which ran aground a·ground adv. & adj. 1. Onto or on a shore, reef, or the bottom of a body of water: a ship that ran aground; a ship aground offshore. 2. Jan. 19 off the coast of Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. , spilling 828,000 gallons of home heating oil into Block Island Sound Block Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic, approximately 10 miles (16 km) wide, separating Block Island from the coast of Rhode Island in the United States. . It was Rhode Island's worst oil spill oil spill: see water pollution. . Smith, who was just starting his own day of fishing, was anchored half a mile away when he heard a crash. ``We heard the horns from the tug and then a huge crash and immediately got over to the scene,'' Smith said by cellular phone. ``I actually grabbed a harpoon pole and tapped on the hull to see if there was anyone alive, and we heard some tapping in response.'' Smith, 30, who has been fishing since he was 16, said he couldn't hear any voices. Coast Guard cutters were on the scene, and a dive team was en route. But about an hour and a half after the accident, the upside-down Heather Lynne II turned sideways, as if trying to right itself. When that happened, the tapping stopped, and Smith heard what sounded like sucking air. Smith believes the crew drowned when the air pocket filled with water - just before rescue divers arrived with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard identified the victims as captain Jeff Hutchins, 31, of Newbury, and crewmen John Michael Lowther, 26, of Newburyport and Kevin Foster For other uses of "Kevin Foster", see Kevin Foster (disambiguation). Kevin Christopher Foster (born January 13, 1969 in Evanston, Illinois), is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1993-2001. of Pembroke, N.H. The Coast Guard did not have his age or hometown. The Heather Lynne II, based in Salisbury, had been out fishing for tuna when the accident occurred. |
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