Tag Archives: F/V Pescadero

Legendary Commercial Fisherman Michael D. McHenry has passed away

“You can have that boat if you want to re-float it.” That was all Michael had to hear. He began his fishing career at age 15, fishing in the summers until he graduated from Half Moon Bay High School in 1961. After that, he went full time on the water going down to Three Rocks every day and coming in with a boat full of ling cod. In 1965, Michael bought the F/V Pescadero and continued his career, now as a salmon fisherman. When his abilities outgrew that boat, he built the Merva W and launched her in 1971. The legendary “Blue Boat” was named after his mother, Merva Wilson. She is a steel, 65-foot salmon/crab/albacore fishing boat. He made a name for himself throughout coastal California and Oregon as a fun-loving Irishman and a salmon fisherman extraordinaire. Fishermen were drawn to him as a natural leader and he led a following of fishermen nicknamed “The Z Squad.” >click to read< 18:47

Oregon boat captain accused of drunken assault on woman at sea

An Oregon man accused of assaulting a woman on a commercial fishing ship he was operating while intoxicated was arrested after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter located the vessel and sent a response boat to board the ship, according to federal court documents. Branden Michael Vanderploeg of Winchester Bay is charged with assault within maritime jurisdiction and operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol. Vanderploeg, 38, is accused of holding the woman down, punching her repeatedly in the face, slamming her head into a tool box and swinging a fishing gaff at her – a pole with a sharp hook at the end used to stab large fish, >click to read<18:43

Coast Guard law enforcement assists injured woman, investigates fisherman for BUI off of Oregon Coast

A Coast Guard law enforcement team assisted an injured woman and are investigating the circumstances surrounding a commercial fisherman allegedly boating under the influence 12 miles off the Oregon Coast, Friday morning. A Coast Guard boat crew and law enforcement team aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Umpqua River removed the woman, reportedly suffering from a head laceration, bruising and swelling in the facial region, off the commercial fishing vessel Pescadero and transferred her to emergency medical services awaiting at Station Umpqua River, which transported her to Lower Umpqua River Hospital. >click to read<20:04