COW HEAD — Ed Lawless thinks someone “Up there” was looking out for him.
The fisherman from Port aux Choix, along with shipmate Dean Offrey, were sailing along the coast Wednesday, heading south when a storm came up with 40-knot winds and four-metre waves. He said they managed to get their boat, Atlantic Endeavour, off the rocks the first time, but became stuck again on a shoal and started taking on water.
Their distress call went out Wednesday just before 9 p.m. They were lifted off the boat by a Cormorant helicopter and eventually brought to Nearby Parson’s Pond where they were examined by medical personnel and released shortly thereafter. Neither men sustained any injuries. The boat, a 55-foot seiner, may be beyond repair, which will be determined upon examination.
Lawless said this isn’t the first time he’s been rescued by Search and Rescue while at sea. Last May he had a problem with another boat taking some damage coming back from Labrador, and Search and Rescue had to be called out.
“This is twice this year now, I’ll be glad when this year is over,” he said. “But we thought we were pretty close this time around (to death), and everything goes through your mind, your family, everything.”
