92 ft crab boat sinks

[relentless]

These boats were built in Anacorte Washington and known as the A-boats, Americus, Alyeska and the Alliance.

After an upgrade with additional gear, the vessels weighed 50 tons more than the 300-ton sister-ship Antares they were copies of -- a dangerous miscalculation that would make the boats top-heavy and prone to capsizing, the Coast Guard concluded. Mistakes apparently were made in deciding which of the 10 fuel tanks to fill, and how seawater was distributed among the four crab-holding tanks below decks.

There's speculation that moving up the "boot top" -- the stripe of red paint that separated the protective copper paint on the bellies of the steel ships from their blue, above-the-water hulls -- may have affected judgment calls about how the boats were riding in the water.

The A-boats went down at a time when fishing in Alaska killed an average of 36 people and claimed 42 vessels each year, according to U.S. Coast Guard data. Safety has improved, but during the past 10 years the toll has averaged 15 men and 29 vessels.

I am thinking of going to Kodialk and Seward again this summer, it will be sad to see the names of the crew missing on the Fishermans Memorial. I don't care how big your vessel is, the sea is powerful and us rec and charter fisherman should never ever push the envelope just to catch a fish. I have not caught one that is worth dying for.

Dave





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