Coast Guard had inspected missing boat after accident

WALDOBORO – The fishing vessel Candy B II, which presumably sank last week with four fishermen on board, was inspected after a December 2002 accident in which a crew man suffered a serious injury, U.S. Coast Guard officials confirmed Friday.

Earlier this week, a former crew member, who made the previous three trips on Candy B II, told the Bangor Daily News that the scallop boat handled the seas well, but had some safety-related problems that should have been corrected. Several family members of one of the deceased fishermen concurred.

One of the scallop dragger’s owners, Scott Knowlton of Waldoboro, has maintained that the vessel was safe.

On Oct. 10, the boat’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, was set off about 11:15 p.m. The beacon was retrieved approximately 42 miles southeast of Nantucket by a Coast Guard helicopter in waters more than 200 feet deep.

Initially, the helicopter crew spotted an orange bait basket, a cooler and a piece of plywood, which disappeared by the time the beacon was retrieved, Coast Guard officials said. Knowlton said Thursday, however, that a boot also was recovered.

Lost with the boat were: Howard “Cappy” Crudell, 38, of Warren; Adrian Randall, 25, of Rockland; Ralph “Bubba” Boyington, 34, of Waldoboro; and Brandon “B.J.” Feyler, 17, of Union.

The Dec. 9, 2002, accident was investigated by Marine Safety Office Providence in Rhode Island, according to Lt. Scott Klinke, senior investigating officer at the MSO in Portland, on Friday.

Information available Friday in Portland showed that a fisherman on the Candy B II got a glove caught in a winch and was flipped around two times, which resulted in a compound fracture to his left forearm, Klinke said.

The name of the fisherman and details of the investigation were not available in Portland, Klinke said, noting again that Providence investigated the incident.

When contacted Friday, Lt. Josh Pennington of the public affairs office at MSO Providence was unable to access the records, he said, adding that the two investigators were working in the field that day. Pennington recalled the accident, he said.

According to Klinke, a typical inspection after an accident would include looking at whether mechanical guards were in place, whether drugs or alcohol were involved, and how the boat operations worked and if they are being conducted properly.

Knowlton mentioned the December 2002 accident during a telephone interview on Thursday, but did not want to discuss it further.

On Friday, Knowlton went to Portland to identify the boot found by the Coast Guard, but he did not indicate to officials on board the 110-foot Cutter Jefferson Island, which took part in the search and had the items on board, whether it belonged to one of his crew men, Petty Officer Scott Woods said that day. The beacon had identification on it, Woods said, showing it belonged to the Candy B II.

Knowlton did not return telephone calls Friday to determine whether the boot was one of the lost fishermen’s.

On Thursday, Knowlton insisted the boat was fully equipped and safe when it left the dock in Provincetown, Mass., for the fishing trip.

“There was life jackets,” Knowlton said. “Life jackets and survival suits, side by side.”

Knowlton talked Thursday about some of his close encounters with injury on fishing vessels during his career. He almost died in a fishing mishap on the Great Salt Lake in Utah while fishing for brine shrimp, he said.

Knowlton said his teenage son fished with him on the Candy B II all summer.

“I wouldn’t take my son on a boat I didn’t feel was safe,” he said. “I don’t know how much safer I could have made that boat.

“If Cappy didn’t think it was safe, he wouldn’t have left,” Knowlton said, referring to Crudell. “There’s too much that can go wrong on a boat.”

He, too, lost family on the Candy B II, he said, noting he was related to Crudell and Feyler through marriage.

“My main concern is the families,” Knowlton said.

The boat owner doubts he will ever go fishing again, he said. Knowlton raised several questions about the boat’s disappearance: why there was no mayday radio signal, why no flares were set off, why no life raft was deployed.

“Something dramatic must have happened,” he said.