Fatal sinking survivor tells tale of tragedy Fisherman aids South Portland filmmakers

PORTLAND – A Long Island fisherman who was the lone survivor when a boat capsized a year ago off Boon Island Ledge, killing his father and cousin, is featured in a National Geographic television program about the dangers of commercial fishing.

Shawn Rich, who had avoided media interviews about the sinking of the Two Friends, agreed to tell his dramatic story to two South Portland filmmakers for the hour-long special.

“Mayday! Lost at Sea,” which debuts Wednesday on Maine PBS, portrays tragedies in the dangerous fishing grounds of the Bering Sea and the Irish Sea. Portland’s fishing community also plays a major role, with fishermen and a Coast Guard safety inspector talking about the dangers in the Gulf of Maine and the economic pressure that is putting fishermen at risk.

Rich, who became a husband and a father in the year after his ordeal at sea, hopes his story will teach a national audience about the difficult and dangerous business that’s in his blood.

Rich drifted for several hours in the frigid ocean when the Two Friends went down Jan 25, 2000. Rich’s cousin Harry Ross, and his father, Larry Rich, died before rescuers glimpsed a flash of light in the waves and saved him.

Rich recounted the accident for Lisa and Kirk Wolfinger, co-owners of Lone Wolf Productions. The two travel around the world to film expeditionary documentaries, usually for NOVA, but for the first time got involved in a project close to home.

As Rich provided the narrative, the producers spliced in dramatizations of the vessel flooding and foundering, and of Rich willing himself to survive.

Coast Guard investigators say the boat’s rudder post fitting, which had been rewelded before the trip, most likely separated from the hull, leaving a hole in the stern that enabled seawater to fill the rear compartment.

Ross, the skipper, called in a mayday – the international distress signal – as the vessel foundered and Larry and Shawn Rich got into their insulated survival suits.

Rich described how he climbed on top of the wheelhouse, trying to launch the Two Friends’ life raft, when the boat started to capsize. His father was on the deck, unable to climb up.

“I said, ‘Dad, give me your hand,'” Rich said. Then the boat rolled and his father disappeared. “I knew he was trapped. He was gone.”

Ross swam free but couldn’t get his survival suit all the way on. He told Rich that he didn’t think they would make it.

“At that point I said to myself, ‘I’m going to make it. There’s no way I’m going to die out in the middle of this ocean,'” Rich said.

He found the boat’s flashing emergency beacon and clung to it as frigid waves kept splashing over him. Rich was rescued after a crew member on a helicopter spotted the light in the trough of a wave.

Rich said he agreed to talk to the filmmakers only because he likes National Geographic. But it turned out that talking about his experience helped. He also feels good about drawing attention to the dangers of fishing.