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Wow.
As I've mentioned before, I use to work for Halibut King Charters. I started in high school and worked off and on through the summer seasons from cleaning the boats to office manager in 2002. The owner was much like a surrogate dad and the crew of Halibut King was just awesome, we were all pretty close. In fact after all this time I still keep in touch with several of them. It's rare to find such a great dynamic in a work environment. I think the first time I started going out fishing with them was my freshmen year of high school although it's hard to remember exactly.
Anyway, the secondary charter boat the 36 ft. "Halibut Endeavor" (a Modutech built in 1973) sank on Wednesday the 25th of April. The Company was just sold sometime this winter and the new owner, Weldon took her out for what turned out to be her last charter. Sooo many memories on that boat, I feel like I've kinda lost a family member! And the weird part was I saw the boats just this week for the first time in 2 years.
Thank the Good Lord nobody was hurt.
I remember Weldon from back in 2002. He ran and owned the "Tacklebuster" which he has now merged with the Halibut King Fleet. He was one of the nicest and most seasoned captains in Homer. He knows boats and he knows fishing so I think the passengers were very lucky it was him as captain and not someone less experienced.
This picture was taken in the Homer Boat Yard back in 2005 when we went down for Thanksgiving.
I took this picture in 2005 of the Halibut Endeavor. The irony is she seems to be sailing off for good -and- one of the rescue boats that came during the sinking; Coast Guard Cutter "Roanoke Island" is in the back ground.
I'm saving all the news articles I could find on this here on the blog below, sorry it's kinda long...
What began as a day of smooth sailing and relaxed halibut fishing ended with a dramatic rescue of 13 fishermen on Kachemak Bay Wednesday. Fast response by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary pulled the fishermen off the 36-foot Halibut Endeavor after it began taking on water about five miles off Seldovia. The Halibut Endeavor was one of eight vessels participating in an annual halibut-tagging event sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce.
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"That's one of the worse times I've had," said 85-year-old George Meeker of Homer, one of the passengers aboard the Halibut Endeavor.
Passenger Ed Stading, a Homer police officer, and his wife, Robanne, praised those involved in the rescue effort.
"If you were going to write a list of all the heroes today, it would be huge," Stading said. Weldon Chivers, captain of the Halibut Endeavor, which is owned and operated by Halibut King Charters of Homer, radioed the call for help. The first to respond to his "mayday" was a 27-foot SAFE Boat owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and dedicated for use by the auxiliary in Homer.
"I briefed my crew and we headed in that direction, making about 40 knots," said Coxswain Shane Taylor of Anchorage, instructor in an auxiliary training academy currently being held in Homer.
With the boat at full throttle, Taylor and his crew - Richard Liebe of Anchorage, Ray Miller of Fairbanks and Mike Cupit, an academy exchange student from the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary - plotted a course that took them to the Halibut Endeavor's location. Chivers continued to give updates on the situation via radio during the 20 minutes it took Taylor to arrive on scene.
"He was very, very calm and gave all the right information," Taylor said. "He kept that boat floating until we arrived."
By the time the SAFE Boat reached the Halibut Endeavor, Chivers had the 11 adult passengers, all wearing life jackets, on the bow of the boat.
"They were trying to balance it," Taylor said. "It would start listing one way, and he'd shift the people to the other side of the boat to balance out the load."
Staying away from the side of the boat that would go under first concerned Meeker, who has experience on the water. He has fished locally and in Prince William Sound, and served in the U.S. Navy aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II.
"If you're on the side that goes in first, you're in pretty deep trouble. I thought about the possibility of the boat sucking us under," Meeker said.
Taylor's first plan had been to help dewater the vessel, but he quickly switched his course of action after witnessing the severity of the situation.
"When I saw the stern awash, I opened the door and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Everybody's coming off now,'" he said.
With the Halibut Endeavor listing to the port, left, side, Taylor nosed the SAFE Boat up to the charter boat's bow and held it steady while his crew assisted in the transfer of passengers. All the while, Taylor kept a hand on the Endeavor so he could detect the slightest shift in its position and pull away if necessary.
"I felt it make a move just as we had the 11th person on board so I pulled away and slowed down to a stop," Taylor said.
Within moments, the Halibut Endeavor rolled onto its starboard, right, side, with Chivers and his deckhand climbing onto the port side.
Two Good Samaritan vessels had arrived on scene by then, ready to assist. One of them was the "Winter King," under the command of Capt. Rex Murphy.
"The rescue boat did a marvelous job getting all the passengers off the boat," Murphy said. "It was amazing to see how well the SAFE Boat handled it."
Taylor quickly pulled back alongside the capsized vessel.
"We grabbed the first mate, but his pant leg or hip wader was stuck on something and he got hung up. Our crew finally had to rip him free of whatever it was he was hung up on. Afterwards we assisted (Chivers) on board," Taylor said.
Within moments, the Halibut Endeavor was gone, descending through the cold, dark depths of Kachemak Bay.
"If we hadn't arrived when we did, those 13 people would have gone for a swim," Taylor said.
Also responding was the USCG Cutter Roanoke Island, a 120-foot patrol boat stationed in Homer and under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin F. Strickland. The crew and passengers of the Halibut Endeavor were transferred to the cutter, which transported them back to the Homer harbor.
By Thursday, the cause of the vessel's sinking was still unknown, according to Rick Zielinski, one of the owners of Halibut King Charters.
"But everybody's safe," he said.
The sight of a sinking vessel was sobering for Murphy.
"It's sad to see a boat go down," he said. "It makes you think real hard about things. But it worked out real well. Thank goodness the Coast Guard was there. They just did a super job."
Taylor had high praise for the trainees aboard the SAFE Boat.
"My crew did a great job," he said.
Standing on the bow of the sinking Halibut Endeavor with 10 other shivering passengers and no ships in sight Wednesday afternoon, Matt North turned his shoulder to the wind and started dialing for help.
When the stern of the Endeavor started to disappear under the surface of Kachemak Bay, all the passengers moved to the bow. Some of the people took each other's hands and began to pray. Many were wet and shivering.
"I was thinking, what are we going to do when we're all huddled together in the water? And how are we going to get them in the life raft?" North said.
After a day of tagging halibut for the annual Homer Halibut Derby, boat captain Welden Chivers turned back toward the Homer Spit around 3:30 p.m. from the boat's fishing spot about five miles from Seldovia. As the 38-foot charter pressed forward through the calm, rolling waves of Kachemak Bay, the stern of the ship started taking on more water.
"We saw there was much bigger problem than that, and we started moving to the front," North said.
Through several calls North made, he finally reached Winter King Captain Rex Murphy, one of several boats that had been fishing near the Endeavor earlier in the afternoon.
"So Rex calls me and said he just couldn't see anything," North said. "So I just said, 'Follow the black smoke bellowing out the back of the boat.'"
Homer Police Officer Ed Stading, who had been fishing aboard the boat, also made some calls for help.
He reached his co-workers at the police station who then called the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau at 4 p.m.
Forty-four minutes later, the Winter King and the Coast Guard Auxiliary arrived on scene — and not a minute too late.
While the coast guard Auxiliary rescued the passengers, the captain kept the boat from flipping.
Minutes later, the boat rolled to its side. A passenger as well as the boat's captain and deckhand took a dip in the chilly water before being lifted into the auxiliary boat.
Three minutes after rolling, the customers and crew watched the red tip of the ship disappear into the ocean.
The rescued were then transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter, Roanoke Island. Several were treated and released by emergency medical personnel. North said everyone remained calm, though concerned, during the incident.
"I don't know why we started taking on water, but the whole thing was just nuts," North said. "They arrived right on time. I really, really need a beer."
The cause of the sinking is not known. Boat owner Rick Zielenski had purchased the Endeavor this year, a longtime vessel of the Homer Harbor.
Anchorage Daily News:
13 saved as charter boat sinks after roll
HOMER: The crew was tagging fish for this summer's halibut derby.
By TOM KIZZIA
Published: April 26, 2007
Last Modified: April 26, 2007 at 02:40 AM
The halibut fishing season in Homer started off with a bang Wednesday, when a charter boat tagging fish for the annual halibut derby capsized and sank in calm seas near Seldovia.
All 13 people on the Halibut Endeavor for the day's Chamber of Commerce outing were rescued, though several had to be pulled from the water after the boat turned over.
The 38-foot vessel was headed for the Homer harbor at 4 p.m. when it started taking on water and made a call for help to Homer police, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
A 25-foot Coast Guard Auxiliary boat was nearby on a training mission at the time and lifted 11 passengers from the wallowing boat.
"The captain did a fantastic job with his passengers. It was lightning fast," said Rex Murphy, the skipper of the boat Winter King, who was tagging halibut nearby. "We got to watch the Coast Guard do a super rescue."
After the 11 were safely aboard the Coast Guard vessel, the Halibut Endeavor's captain started toward Seldovia.
Murphy was following alongside when, after about a quarter mile, the boat "turned turtle." Murphy said a deckhand clung to the side of the Endeavor while the captain had to struggle out of the boat cabin.
The Auxiliary boat reached the Endeavor and grabbed the two wet fishermen before the boat went down, Murphy said. He said the boat sank in less than five minutes.
Passengers were picked up by the Coast Guard Cutter Roanoke Island and taken to the Homer Spit. Several were examined by emergency medical personnel before heading home, said Coast Guard spokesman Ray Dwyer.
Kachemak Bay was calm Wednesday afternoon as several boats in addition to the Endeavor were catching, tagging and releasing halibut for the annual chamber derby.
The cause of the sinking was unknown Wednesday night, the Coast Guard said.
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The Halibut Endeavor, owned and operated by Halibut King Charters of Homer, was one of eight vessels participating in the Homer Chamber of Commerce's annual one-day halibut-tagging event. Vessel captains are given business-sponsored tags that are attached to halibut caught during the day. The halibut are then released and, if recaught during the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby that began Tuesday, the tags can be redeemed for prizes.
The vessel was carrying 11 passengers, plus a captain and deckhand. All 13 people were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary only minutes before the Halibut Endeavor sank.
"Nothing like this has happened before and hopefully it never will happen again," said Linda Winters, event organizer for the chamber.
Alcohol and drug tests of the Halibut Endeavor's captain and crew have been completed as required. Those results, along with interviews of everyone aboard the vessel, will be forwarded to the Coast Guard's investigating office in Anchorage, Watson said.
George Meeker, 85, of Homer was one of the passengers aboard the Halibut Endeavor.
"That's one of the worst times I've had," Meeker said.
Ed Stading, a Homer police officer, and his wife, Robanne, praised those involved in the rescue effort.
"If you were going to write a list of all the heroes today, it would be huge," Stading said after being transported to Homer harbor by the USCG Cutter Roanoke Island, a 110-foot patrol book stationed in Homer.
A cell call from Stading to the Homer Police Department resulted in the Coast Guard Command Center in Juneau being alerted that the Halibut Endeavor was taking on water, according to Lt. Heather Neely.
"We got a call from the Homer Police Department at 4:09 p.m.," Neely said. "We issued a marine broadcast to any vessels in the area to assist if possible. We also got a cell phone number of the police officer who was actually on the boat and called him, but his cell phone was dying."
Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak also was in radio communication with Weldon Chivers, captain of the Halibut Endeavor, Neely said.
The first to respond to the radio request for help was a 27-foot SAFE Boat owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and dedicated for use by the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Homer.
"I briefed my crew and we headed in that direction, making about 40 knots," said Coxswain Shane Taylor of Anchorage, instructor in an auxiliary training academy that was being held in Homer.
With the SAFE Boat at full throttle, Taylor and his crew Richard Liebe of Anchorage, Ray Miller of Fairbanks and Mike Cupit, an academy exchange student from the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary plotted a course that took them to the Halibut Endeavor's location. Chivers, with the help of Stading, continued to give updates on the situation via radio during the 20 minutes it took Taylor to arrive on scene. Chivers also maintained a course for Seldovia at a speed Taylor estimated as six knots.
"He was very, very calm and gave all the right information," Taylor said. "He kept that boat floating until we arrived."
By the time the SAFE Boat reached the Halibut Endeavor, Chivers had the 11 adult passengers, all wearing life jackets, on the bow of the vessel.
"They were trying to balance it," Taylor said. "It would start listing one way, and he'd shift the people to the other side of the boat to balance out the load."
Keeping his distance from the side that would go under first if the vessel capsized concerned Meeker, who has experience on the water. He has fished locally and in Prince William Sound, and served in the U.S. Navy aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II.
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Crowded on the bow, the passengers turned to prayer.
"Ed and I prayed that people would stay calm and that the systems there for rescue would work the way they should, that no one would go into the water," Robanne Stading said.
Feeling the unsteady boat change position, Dave Durham also began to pray.
"It seemed like a couple moments after that, the boat righted itself and I was thanking the Lord. After that, we saw the (rescue) boats on the horizon and everybody felt pretty comfortable," he said.
Taylor's first plan had been to dewater the Halibut Endeavor, but he quickly switched his course of action after witnessing the severity of the situation.
"When I saw the stern awash, I opened the door and screamed at the top of my lungs, 'Everybody's coming off now,'" he said.
With the Halibut Endeavor listing to the port, left, side, Taylor nosed the SAFE Boat up to the charter boat's bow and held it steady while his crew assisted in the transfer of passengers. All the while, Taylor kept a hand on the Endeavor so he could detect the slightest shift in its position and pull away if necessary.
"I felt it make a move just as we had the 11th person on board so I pulled away and slowed down to a stop," Taylor said.
Within moments, the Halibut Endeavor rolled onto its starboard, right, side, with Chivers and his deckhand climbing onto the exposed port side.
Two Good Samaritan vessels had arrived on scene by then, ready to assist. One of them was the Winter King, under the command of Capt. Rex Murphy.
"The rescue boat did a marvelous job getting all the passengers off the boat," Murphy said. "It was amazing to see how well the SAFE Boat handled it."
Taylor quickly pulled back alongside the capsized vessel.
"We grabbed the first mate, but his pant leg or hip wader was stuck on something and he got hung up. Our crew finally had to rip him free of whatever it was he was hung up on. Afterwards we assisted (Chivers) on board," Taylor said.
Within moments, the Halibut Endeavor was gone, descending through the cold, dark depths of Kachemak Bay.
"It's sad to see a boat go down," Murphy said. "It makes you think real hard about things. But it worked out real well. Thank goodness the Coast Guard was there. They just did a super job."
For Ed Stading, watching the Halibut Endeavor disappear was "a little surreal." His wife said she was thankful she was inside the SAFE Boat's cabin and unable to witness it slip beneath the bay's surface.
"I count that as yet another blessing from the Lord that I didn't see it go down and won't have that image in my mind for the rest of my life," she said.
Taylor is well aware of the importance timing played in the auxiliary's response.
"If we hadn't arrived when we did, those 13 people would have gone for a swim," he said.
The crew and passengers of the Halibut Endeavor were transferred to the cutter, which transported them back to the Homer harbor aboard the USCG Cutter Roanoke Island, under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin F. Strickland.
An out-of-the-water inspection of the Halibut Endeavor was conducted by Chief Warrant Officer Watson in February. Required every two years, the inspection determines the hull's seaworthiness. The shaft, rudders, propellers and through-hull fittings were examined, and then the vessel was observed after it being put back in the water. Such inspections are done for all vessels carrying six or more passengers and charging a fee, according to Watson.
"We found nothing wrong with the vessel at that time," he said.
An annual, more detailed exam done with the vessel in the water was not scheduled until later this year.
Putting the Halibut Endeavor's sinking in perspective, Durham said, "As long as I get home and kiss my wife and kids, it's a good day."
To that, he added, "I just think the crew of the boat the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Weldon (Chivers) did an awesome job."
Ed Stading also found perspective for the incident.
"I told Robanne, just like there's no atheist in a foxhole, I can attest there's none on a sinking boat. Everybody put their heads down and said a prayer or two," he said. "I know where my faith is and there was a lot of grace out there that day. It was a near tragedy. But again, the right people were in the right place. Definitely it could have gone the other way very easily."
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
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Story last updated at
Everyone met at the Central (Charter Booking Agency) to see who went on which boat. I got 10 passengers plus my office lady and a deckhand making it 13 people in all. We all got aboard the Halibut Endeavor, a 39-foot inspected boat. Everyone was happy to get out fishing. I gave a safety meeting before departure as I routinely do. I told everyone about all of the safety features required on an inspected boat including the location of the life raft and life vests; not knowing or even thinking about even using them.
We left the harbor and headed out to one of my favorite fishing spots. In an hour and a half we were fishing. Everything was normal and no problems except we had only caught one halibut in over an hour. I decided we needed to move. We moved about a mile and a half southwest and anchored up again. Within a half hour we had caught 10 or 15 cod. Everything was still normal and no problems whatsoever. We had finally found some fish. We caught, tagged and turned loose a dozen fish then proceeded to catch a limit for the volunteers. Upon catching our limit we pulled anchor and headed for home. I turned on all three bilge pumps as I always do after fishing and the deckhand verified they were all working. At this time everything was still normal.
I throttled up to 10 knots and remained there while the guys filleted the fish. The seas were two or three feet with an occasional four-footer and a 10-knot wind. Thirty or 40 minutes later Jack gave me the high sign that they were through filleting and I could speed up and go home. About five minutes later Jack said that the rear deck appeared to be quite wet and I should check it out. I opened the cabin door and looked back. There was some water streaking intermittently across the deck. Nothing had changed so I told the deckhand, Jack, that I would slow down if we could open the lazeret to see if it was filling with water. As I slowed down to about five knots the water began running through the scuppers and across the deck and out the back.
At this point I knew I could not open the hatch. With the seas as they were, each time the boat went through a wave the water streaked across the deck. If we opened the hatch it would certainly fill the lazeret. At this point I realized our time was limited. We had two choices. First, we could stop and deploy the life raft that would take several minutes and with the boat being unstable could possibly roll over and put everyone in the water. I elected not to take that chance. There were a couple of passengers that I didn't feel that would survive any time at all in the water.
I throttled up to maintain as much control as I could and had everyone put on lifejackets and move out of the cabin and out on the bow to help me keep the boat level and as much weight as we could off the rear of the boat. I called the Coast Guard and told them our situation, then pointed towards Seldovia on the beach. The Coast Guard Auxiliary and the cutter Roanoke (Island) were in the bay doing training exercises. They both responded and headed to our position. I kept them informed of our condition and position. As soon as the auxiliary boat told me they could see us I turned directly toward them. After everyone except myself and Jack were off the boat it died and rolled over. The auxiliary rescue boat pulled back up to us before we sank and picked up Jack and I.
After the Endeavor sank the life raft opened and the EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) was working. Of course then we were rescued. I was thankful that I had the group of people on board that I did. Everyone was great. They helped a tremendous amount and no one panicked. There were several boats that responded that I want to thank also. The Coast Guard Auxiliary did a fantastic job and (was) very professional. I also appreciate all the calls from everyone that were concerned and supportive.
Weldon Chivers was captain aboard the 39-foot Halibut Endeavor, owned and operated by Halibut King Charters.
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When the stern of the Endeavor started to disappear under the surface of Kachemak Bay, all the passengers moved to the bow. Some of the people took each other’s hands and began to pray. Many were wet and shivering.
“I was thinking, what are we going to do when we’re all huddled together in the water? And how are we going to get them in the life raft?” North said.
After a day of tagging halibut for the annual Homer Halibut Derby, boat captain Welden Chivers turned back toward the Homer Spit around 3:30 p.m. from the boat’s fishing spot about five miles from Seldovia. As the 38-foot charter pressed forward through the calm, rolling waves of Kachemak Bay, the stern of the ship started taking on more water.
“We saw there was a much bigger problem than that, and we started moving to the front,” North said.
While Chivers made emergency radio calls, North finally reached Winter King Captain Rex Murphy, one of several boats that had been fishing near the Endeavor earlier in the afternoon. Murphy’s radio had been swi-tched to a different channel. He did not hear the radio distress call.
“So Rex calls me and said he just couldn’t see anything,” North said. “So I just said, ‘Follow the black smoke bellowing out the back of the boat.’”
Homer Police Officer Ed Stading, who had been fishing aboard the boat, also made some calls for help.
He reached his co-workers at the police station, who then called the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau at 4 p.m.
Help arrives
Forty-four minutes later, the Winter King and the Coast Guard Auxiliary arrived on scene — and not a minute too late.
While the Coast Guard Auxiliary rescued passengers, the captain kept the boat from flipping.
Minutes later, the boat rolled to its side. A passenger, as well as the boat’s captain and deckhand, took a dip in the chilly water before being lifted into the auxiliary boat.
Three minutes after rolling, the passengers and crew watched the red tip of the ship disappear into the ocean.
As the passengers wore their life jackets and waited for the Auxiliary boat, the Endeavor’s life raft automatically deployed — though they simply walked aboard the rescue boat in time.
The Auxiliary SAFE boat responded in 20 minutes, and was the first to the boat to make the rescue.
Passengers were then transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter, Roanoke Island. Several were treated and released by emergency medical personnel. North said everyone remained calm, though concerned, during the incident.
“I don’t know why we started taking on water, but the whole thing was just nuts,” North said. “They arrived right on time.”
The cause of the sinking is not known. Boat owner Rick Zielenski had purchased the Endeavor this year, a longtime vessel of the Homer Harbor.
Sitting on the floor of the Bay
Halibut Endeavor, according to Professional Adjustors of Alaska, just passed rigorous United States Coast Guard tests. The vessel was awarded a Certificate of Inspection. That was this year, after the boat changed hands this winter. Boats undergo dry- and wet-dock inspections in alternating years.
The insurance company said that generally, a boat that sinks in such deep of water would not warrant a dive. Typically, when vessels of this type sink and are on the bottom for more than a day or two, repairing them is generally not feasible, a representative of the company said.
Boat captains and charter owners Chivers and Zielenski were unavailable for comment.
Passengers aboard the boat have said the Halibut Endeavor was sitting low in the water even when it left the Homer Harbor the morning it sank. Passenger George Meeker said as they headed out into the Bay, it was listing to the starboard side. As it sank, it rolled to the starboard side. Others have commented via a Blog that passengers were lucky to have an experienced boat captain.
An investigation into the cause of the sinking is ongoing.
