Two fishermen were rescued off the coast near Port Alden early on Wednesday after spending the night adrift in a small boat that had lost all power. A coast guard crew located them by searchlight shortly before 4 a.m., a few hundred meters from the cliffs at Gannet Head, where the current was pushing them toward the rocks.
Jonas Pell, 58, and his nephew Arno Pell, 31, were taken to hospital in Port Alden with mild hypothermia and released later in the morning.
A long night
The men had set out on Tuesday afternoon to check crab pots about six kilometers from the harbor. As they turned back at dusk, the engine failed, and soon afterwards the boat’s battery died, taking the radio with it.
Their families raised the alarm at around 10 p.m., when they did not return. The coast guard launched a lifeboat and a second rescue vessel and searched a wide area along the coast through the night, helped by a fishing crew that knew the men’s usual route.
The wind and the current were taking them straight toward Gannet Head. In another hour, the situation could have been very different.
Hana Lindqvist, rescue coordinator at the Port Alden coast guard station
The crew eventually spotted a red hand flare that Arno Pell fired when he heard the engines of the lifeboat. The rescuers towed the boat clear of the cliffs and brought both men aboard.
“We kept each other awake”
Speaking outside the hospital, Jonas Pell said the men had worn life jackets all night and taken turns bailing water from the boat.
“I’ve fished these waters for forty years and never had a night like that,” he said. “We kept each other awake by talking about anything. When we saw the searchlight, my nephew cried. I think I did too.”
A reminder for small boats
The coast guard said the rescue shows why every small boat should carry life jackets, flares and a waterproof handheld radio or personal locator beacon that works independently of the boat’s battery. Telling someone on shore the planned route and return time, as the Pells had done, also makes searches much faster.
The coast guard will examine the boat’s engine this week. Forecasters expect strong winds along the Coastal Region over the weekend and advise small boats to stay in harbor.
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