Tag Archives: Pelican Bay

After the storm: Survivor recounts Pelican Bay storm 50 years later

David Alan Shinkle vividly remembers the day he lost his grandfather. It was 50 years ago, on Aug. 16, 1972 – a day that would change the course of his life. It was the day a tragic storm took the lives of 13 fishermen in Pelican Bay. Shinkle, like many young men and women, had the pleasure of spending summers with his grandparents. He remembers beachcombing, shooting guns and just doing the things that young boys do. When he was a teenager, he started fishing with his grandfather Clayton Dooley. Dooley was captain of the “Dixie Lee,” a 35-foot diesel-powered trawler based out of Brookings. When he and his grandfather left the Brookings boat basin early the morning of the storm, the skies were overcast and it was lightly raining. 2 photos, >click to read< 12:08