Crew saved, captain lost as dragger sinks

Sadness descended over the Campobello Island fishing community as the Bay of Fundy claimed a local captain and his boat late on Friday night, August 18. Wade Gallagher, captain of the Braiden G, was lost when his boat capsized near The Wolves. Crewman Andre Mallette was rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard boat out of Eastport after nearly an hour in the water. Gallagher is survived by his wife Connie and young son Braiden.
Gallagher and Mallette had been dragging for scallops and finished at about 9 p.m. with 35 totes of scallops in the shell waiting to be shucked. Mallette went to the cabin and fell asleep as Gallagher headed the 35-foot wooden boat home from the Saint John area.

"Wade woke me up," explained Mallette. "The whole stern was in the water. He gave me a life jacket to put on, and I headed back to the dinghy. He had already sent out a mayday when the boat shifted to the right, and I knew we were going under. There were too many ropes on the dinghy to get it loose, so I climbed onto the top of the wheelhouse and jumped into the water as the boat turned. After that, survival instinct just took over."

The U.S. Coast Guard received the distress call at 10:20 p.m. and was under way to the scene within 20 minutes. They arrived at the site at 11:45 p.m., according to Officer in Charge Mark Corbishley, and fired four illumination flares. "When our boat arrived, there was about two feet of the boat [the Braiden G] showing in the water. We rescued Andre Mallette, and at that point the boat was gone. Mallette was suffering from severe hypothermia," says Corbishley. "We had seen him go completely under several times as we approached. I don't think he could have lasted much longer in the cold water. The entire crew is saddened that we were not able to save the captain."

Mallette says the boat didn't sink right away after it turned over. Once in the water, he started turning around his wedding ring on his finger. "My wife just suffered a loss in the family," he says. "And I wasn't bound to die right now. It would be another blow to her. I survived for my wife." He says he kept moving his arms and legs in the water trying to stay warm. "I didn't lose consciousness. I saw a light and thought it was the North Star. But then I thought, 'How can it be the North Star?' It was the Coast Guard boat."

According to family members, the Canadian Coast Guard called a halt to the search on Saturday morning, August 19. Canadian officials were not available to confirm this at press time. Family members and other fishermen from Campobello Island have been searching the area where the boat was lost with grapnels and sonar, but without results so far. Local fishermen fear the boat may have fallen into a deep crevasse in the ocean floor, too deep to recover.

An investigation will attempt to determine what caused the Braiden G, named after Gallagher's young son, to sink so quickly. Many draggers carry a "black box" to record information, which would be helpful in the investigation.

In the harbour on Campobello, one fisherman who knew Wade Gallagher said, "What Wade did was, he saved Andre's life. By waking him up, getting him a flotation device and putting out a mayday, he gave him a chance." As to why Gallagher could not be saved, he said, "Often, when a boat rolls and goes down, there is air trapped in the wheelhouse. You can be pulled into the wheelhouse and trapped by your flotation device or get tangled up on deck."

As to what caused the sinking, Mallette has several thoughts. "We were loaded. It might have been a freak wave. When I got up, the whole stern was already in the water. Only Wade knows for sure what happened. We may never know."

Mallette, safe at home after leaving hospital, said, "I have nothing but good things to say about the U.S. Coast Guard. Without them, I might not have made it."

Corbishley comments, "When we receive a distress call, we don't think about borders. We just respond. Our main concern is search and rescue, and saving lives."