The lobster fisherman from Yarmouth who fell overboard wanted to leave the hospital almost immediately.
Medical staff at the Yarmouth hospital however were still bringing his temperature up as of 4 p.m. this afternoon and weren’t letting him go anywhere, according to his crewmates.
The experienced fisherman fell off the lobster boat Gotta Lov'it just before 10 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, Nov. 27 – the first day of the season in lobster fishing area 34.
Though the crew is all from Yarmouth, the boat left the Digby wharf this morning loaded with traps.
They headed out the Gut and south to start fishing off Gulliver’s Cove.
His crewmates say he was on the stern of the boat, pushing off the first pot when his hand got caught in the trap and it took him with it – over the side and into Bay of Fundy.
“We couldn’t see him, we didn’t know where he was,” said one of the crew. “Then he came up out of the water and we threw him a balloon, but he couldn’t hold on to it and by the time we got to him, he was floating.”
His crewmates say he didn’t know how to swim; and by floating they meant he was face down in the water and not moving.
They used a gaff to get a hold of him and hauled him aboard.
A Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules arrived on scene about 10:25 a.m. with the Cormorant performing the medi-vac and transporting the fisherman to Yarmouth hospital.
The crew of the Gotta Lov'it it returned to the Digby wharf near 3:30 p.m. with all the traps aboard but one string.
They weren’t sure when they were going fishing again.
“It kind of scares you,” said a crewmember.
Before heading back to Yarmouth they packed up a stretcher, rope and rappelling gear the search and rescue technicians left on the boat.
jriley@digbycourier.ca
