Tag Archives: skipper at the wheel

Skipper rescued by girlfriend on an air mattress after falling overboard off Sitka

A fishing boat reportedly departed Sitka’s Eliason Harbor northbound earlier in the morning, with the skipper at the wheel and the deckhand below asleep. Once clear of the breakwater, the skipper put the vessel on autopilot and stepped on deck to wash the windows. A few miles north of the harbor at Magic Island, the skipper’s girlfriend came down to the beach to wave. “His partner was waving him off on the beach there,” said Fire Chief Craig Warren, who responded to the accident. His partner had to go out with, it sounded like almost an inflatable air mattress, The fishing boat continued northbound under autopilot for about five miles before it ran aground in Eastern Bay. >click to read< 16:50