By Paul Sylvain
Three very lucky Machiasport men narrowly avoided being claimed by the frigid ocean waters off Cross Island on Oct. 15, following a collision between a Cooke’s Aquaculture vessel and a commercial fishing boat skippered by Eric Wood.
Machiasport Harbor Master David Cale reported Saturday that Eric Wood and his sternman, Stephan Van Hoose, were working off Cross Island when Wood’s boat got T-boned by one of Cooke’s salmon vessels at around 7 a.m. last Thursday.
“Troy Wood was the captain of the salmon boat and hit Eric wide open at 17 knots [nearly 20 mph],” Cale said. “Troy was the only person aboard Cooke’s boat.” Cale said he was told that Troy Wood “wasn't even at the wheel because he got thrown overboard” by the impact.
“If it wasn't for Eric, Troy would have drowned,” Cale said. “Even though Troy was wearing a life jacket, the weight of his clothes and boots was pulling him under.”
Incredibly, even though Eric Wood’s boat had just gotten hit, Eric saw Troy Wood struggling in the 52-degree water and managed to swing his badly damaged boat around to grab Troy and keep him afloat until several salmon pen workers rushed over in their skiff and pulled him out of the water.
“In the meantime, the salmon boat was still doing circles and almost hit them again,” Cale said. “The workers had to chase down the salmon boat and get aboard it to stop it.”
Van Hoose was taken to the hospital to be checked out for possible rib injuries, Cale said, adding that no ribs were broken, but they were pretty badly bruised.
Van Hoose posted on social media Saturday, “I am still processing everything, slowly. I remember every detail, and I see it every time I close my eyes, but it doesn’t feel real.”
Said Van Hoose, “I was standing in the middle of this deck three seconds before impact. Another boat struck us broadside at high speed, sunk our stern underwater, and drove completely over us. Millimeters and microseconds from ending tragically, but we all made it home.”
He went on to say, “My body will heal, but I don’t know about my mind. Hopefully putting [this] out there will help.”
“In the end Cooke’s will be paying [for the damage to Eric Wood’s boat],” Cale said. “Eric’s boat got hit so hard that the impact at full throttle almost flipped it over. Eric told me his boat listed so hard its keel and propeller came right out of the water and, by some miracle, the boat sat back down.”
“I asked Eric on Saturday if he could use help with anything,” Cale said. “Eric said he was disappointed with the Coast Guard because even though he called and reported the accident, he hasn't heard back from them, and they never came to the scene.”
According to Cale, “The same thing happened when Kenny Link’s boat got hit by a salmon company boat. If a boat sinks and no one gets severely hurt, they’re not coming. And Eric has never even heard from Marine Patrol.”
Cale said Eric Wood remains shaken up by the accident. “He’s been friends with Troy since they were kids,” Cale said, “and he was afraid he was going to lose him.”
Cale said the accident is still being investigated.
