On Thursday morning, about 35 fishermen took part in a Safety and Survival Training program, a two-day free course that walked commercial fishermen through live saving skills, including plunging into the frigid ocean in thick neoprene survival suits.
Additional restrictions on the operation of pleasure craft in waters around Martha's Vineyard have been ordered by the Coast Guard as of last Friday. The regulations are issued by the Captain of the Port at Newport and are unique in the fact that they have been made public in any written or printed form. The substance of the restrictions has been ascertained from the Coast Guard, however, and charts with the restricted areas marked, are accessible at both Vineyard Haven and Edgartown.
Five fishermen were stranded on Nomans Land for more than five hours Wednesday, waiting for the U.S. Coast Guard to rescue them.
The fishing crew were aboard the Michelle Lane, laden with fish and bound for New Bedford when it ran aground at 1:10 a.m. off the south side of Nomans.
The crew contacted the Coast Guard about their predicament. At 9:56 a.m. the fishermen abandoned ship and sought refuge on Nomans.
The stranded men were Brandon Chase, Thomas Albee, Mike Train-ham, Mark Wrigley and Mike Montgerzero.
The motor semi Islander struck submerged rocks moments after leaving the Oak Bluffs wharf at 9:15 Wednesday morning and began taking on water through five holes ripped in her hull. But the vessel’s captain, Antone Jardin, wrestled the foundering ship back to port, averting a major disaster and possible sinking of the ship.
The cause of the mishap is under investigation by the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety office in Boston, but Coast Guard officials said yesterday it appears that a previously unplotted rock in the channel may have caused the damage. Earlier reports that a key buoy had drifted out of place were discounted by the Coast Guard and Steamship Authority officials.
Every morning, members of Coast Guard Station Menemsha head down to the West Dock, past the old fishing shacks on Basin Road, to begin their day’s work. The station’s 23 members hail from all over the country.
Coast Guard members from around the region gathered in Menemsha Thursday morning to inaugurate the Island’s first volunteer flotilla in 35 years. Timothy Carroll is the commander of the 18-member volunteer flotilla 11-9.