JONESPORT – A powerful wave during a pounding storm may have caused the load aboard the 35-foot trawler The Little Raspy to shift, swamping the boat and sending the three mussel fishermen aboard to their deaths in Chandler Bay.

The bodies of all three men have been recovered, and the families said Sunday a joint funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Jonesport-Beals High School.

The accident occurred while it was snowing or sleeting in the area amid 12-foot seas shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday in waters near Bar Island, just off the coast of Jonesport.

The body of Dawson E. Allen, 22, of Jonesport was discovered later that night on Popplestone Beach after nearly 100 people had combed the shoreline in a search for survivors. Allen’s body was found a short distance from where the pieces of The Little Raspy drifted onto shore.

Friday’s searches were not successful in locating the other two missing men. Divers returned to the bay at first light Saturday. Around 9:30 a.m. a civilian diver, Rodney Dame of Jonesport, found the body of Dwayne A. Smith of Jonesport, the 21-year-old captain, and, 75 yards away, the body of Michael A. Laytart, 39, of Addison.

They were found in about 30 feet of water.

Sgt. Marlowe Sonksen of the Maine Marine Patrol said investigators believe the bodies were found Saturday near where the boat rolled over.

Sonksen speculated that a wave hit the boat and caused the load to shift. “He had mussel bags onboard, and they shifted to one side, it appears now,” he said.

“The timing from trying to save their boat, when they realized the boat was going to be lost, and what they needed to save their lives, wasn’t enough to do what they needed to do,” Sonksen said.

None of the men wore survival gear or life jackets.

The U.S. Coast Guard marine safety office is investigating the accident.

The three men had been dragging for mussels in Mason Bay and were headed back to Jonesport when the accident occurred.

Dwayne Smith was talking with his uncle, Ralph Smith, who owns Moosebec Mussels Inc, when Dwayne told his uncle that the boat had taken a bad wave and was starting to sink.

Ralph Smith alerted the U.S. Coast Guard station in Jonesport, which immediately launched its 41-by-22-foot search-and-rescue boat.

By the time the Coast Guard boat reached the scene, about 23/4 miles from the station, the trawler was upended, with its bow sticking out of the water and its stern under water.

There was no initial sign of the three men, but life jackets and a life raft were seen floating in the area around the boat.

The Coast Guard, the Maine Marine Patrol and local fishermen began patrolling the area, looking for survivors, but they were hampered by the weather.

By nightfall, The Little Raspy had drifted to within 30 yards of shore.

The Maine Marine Patrol-Maine State Police dive team and local divers, assisted by the Jonesport Fire Department, cut into the hull and searched the interior, hoping the men would be found in a pocket of air.

A Maine State Police airplane helped search for the missing men Friday and Saturday. On Friday, a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter also assisted.

Bragdon-Kelley-Campbell Funeral Homes, in a statement Sunday, said additional information about the families’ plans would be available today by calling the Ellsworth office at 667-8325, after 10 a.m.