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Karl F · 03-27-2006, 10:22 AM

Fishermen ran aground on Coast Guard Beach
EASTHAM - Two Maine scallopers escaped with their lives after their ship ran aground in the pounding surf at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham about 4 a.m.

The two-man crew on the Josephine, a 40-foot scalloper, had left their home port in Stonington, Me. yesterday at 9 a.m. to return to Stage Harbor, Chatham. They had been running, on and off, on autopilot.

In the dark this morning, they suddenly found their boat in the 38-degree rough surf at the base of the Coast Guard Station on a cliff above the popular beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Skipper Ian Orchards, 32, of Stonington, had time to send a quick mayday at 4:15 a.m. before he and Michael Darragh, 34, from East Orland, Me. jumped into the eight-foot waves. There was no time to don survival suits.

At 4:20 a.m., Eastham Police Sgt. Robert Schnitzer’s spotlight found Darragh, wandering on the beach. For the next few hours, there was no sign of Orchards as a flood of rescuers from Eastham, Wellfleet, Orleans, and Chatham fire departments, including two four-wheel drive vehicles, a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod and two rescue boats from the Coast Guard in Chatham searched by air, land and sea. At 8:20 a.m., rescuers did a second search of the Coast Guard station, directly above the Josephine. A window was broken.

Inside was Orchards, who had taken a shower to try to get warmer. He came to the door, wrapped in a curtain.

Both fishermen, both hypothermic, were taken to Cape Cod Hospital. Both are expected to survive. The two brothers-in-law have fished these waters before, a friend said this morning.

Another survivor is their pug dog, covered with diesel fuel, and found wandering on the beach, according to police at a press conference at 8:45 a.m..

By that time, the Josephine’s wood, covered by fiberglas, was a complete and total wreck. The surf had splintered its wood covered by fiberglas into pieces no bigger than 10 by 10 feet.

A smell of diesel lingered near the wreck on the beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Park Service planned to clean-up when the tide ebbs.

Read more about the accident later today and in tomorrow’s Cape Cod Times.

03-27-2006, 10:22 AM	#4
Karl F Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5,945	Fishermen ran aground on Coast Guard Beach EASTHAM - Two Maine scallopers escaped with their lives after their ship ran aground in the pounding surf at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham about 4 a.m. The two-man crew on the Josephine, a 40-foot scalloper, had left their home port in Stonington, Me. yesterday at 9 a.m. to return to Stage Harbor, Chatham. They had been running, on and off, on autopilot. In the dark this morning, they suddenly found their boat in the 38-degree rough surf at the base of the Coast Guard Station on a cliff above the popular beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Skipper Ian Orchards, 32, of Stonington, had time to send a quick mayday at 4:15 a.m. before he and Michael Darragh, 34, from East Orland, Me. jumped into the eight-foot waves. There was no time to don survival suits. At 4:20 a.m., Eastham Police Sgt. Robert Schnitzer’s spotlight found Darragh, wandering on the beach. For the next few hours, there was no sign of Orchards as a flood of rescuers from Eastham, Wellfleet, Orleans, and Chatham fire departments, including two four-wheel drive vehicles, a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod and two rescue boats from the Coast Guard in Chatham searched by air, land and sea. At 8:20 a.m., rescuers did a second search of the Coast Guard station, directly above the Josephine. A window was broken. Inside was Orchards, who had taken a shower to try to get warmer. He came to the door, wrapped in a curtain. Both fishermen, both hypothermic, were taken to Cape Cod Hospital. Both are expected to survive. The two brothers-in-law have fished these waters before, a friend said this morning. Another survivor is their pug dog, covered with diesel fuel, and found wandering on the beach, according to police at a press conference at 8:45 a.m.. By that time, the Josephine’s wood, covered by fiberglas, was a complete and total wreck. The surf had splintered its wood covered by fiberglas into pieces no bigger than 10 by 10 feet. A smell of diesel lingered near the wreck on the beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Park Service planned to clean-up when the tide ebbs. Read more about the accident later today and in tomorrow’s Cape Cod Times.