‘Headed back out’: 5 men lost in fishing boat sinking near Hoonah ran into gale-force winds

The five men lost in the sinking of a commercial fishing boat near Hoonah early Sunday had just delivered a load in Juneau and were making a last run before the fishing season ended.

The Sitka-based Wind Walker was transiting out to North Pacific fishing grounds when the boat capsized about 25 miles southwest of Juneau, according to several fishing industry representatives. The National Weather Service had forecast gale-force winds in the area, as well as freezing spray and snow.

The Coast Guard said the boat issued a VHF radio mayday call “reporting they were overturning” just before 12:10 a.m. Sunday. The search for survivors continued for nearly 24 hours and covered more than 108 square nautical miles before it was suspended Monday.

The Coast Guard has started an investigation into the incident, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Shannon Kearney.

Authorities on Tuesday identified the five missing men as Travis Kapp, Michael Brown, Emilio Celaya-Talamantez, Jacob Hannah and Alex Ireland, who used the name Alex Zamantakis on social media.

Kapp is listed as the owner of the Wind Walker, according to a commercial fishing database that describes the boat as a 52-foot, diesel-powered vessel equipped with pots, longline and purse seine gear as well as 1,000-gallon holding and live tanks.

The boat delivered halibut and black cod at the Alaska Glacier Seafoods Inc. dock in Juneau on Saturday, according to an employee. Then the vessel took on ice and bait and departed for one last run before the season closes this week.

“They were headed back out,” said Linda Behnken, a commercial fisherman out of Sitka for more than 40 years and executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

The vessel departed Juneau at about 7:45 p.m. Saturday, according to a vessel tracking service.

The boat’s crew issued an emergency mayday call at 12:07 a.m., the Coast Guard said. A state ferry in the area watched as the boat’s signal disappeared just over 10 minutes later.

Coast Guard officials said searchers located seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights but no signs of any of the people aboard the vessel.

The sinking occurred near Point Couverden in Icy Strait, a deep but confined channel that’s prone to big currents and waves that can “really stack up if the wind is against the current,” Behnken said.

“Other boats are still fishing, not a lot,” she said. “Most are off the grounds and unloading as he had. I don’t know that anybody else was heading back out into the weather that he was heading out into.”

A marine forecast issued that afternoon for the southern Lynn Canal area the boat would have passed through included a gale warning with north winds to 35 knots, 7-foot seas and freezing spray through the night with snow, according to Nicole Ferrin, a Juneau-based warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The forecast for northern Chatham Strait, the next part of the trip, called for sustained winds of 30 knots and gusts to 40 knots, or about 45 mph, Ferrin said. An observation point near the area the boat went down registered sustained 40-knot winds with higher gusts, she said.

The Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Hubbard, carrying 24 crew and 110 passengers, diverted to assist the Wind Walker. Within an hour of the mayday call, state officials say, the ferry captain described 50-knot winds out of the north, driving snow, freezing spray and 6- to 8-foot waves.

Kapp bought the Wind Walker this year, according to the state database.

The market for black cod, also known as sablefish, was depressed this year. Generally, industry advocates say, commercial fishermen and processors are grappling with challenges like worker shortages, a changing climate, and market upheavals.

“It’s been a tough year. Commercial fishermen are under a lot of pressure especially ... newer entrants trying to make big boat payments or support their families,” Behnken said. “They’re feeling a lot of pressure right now to make what they can. It’s an inherently dangerous occupation, but this time of year, those dangers just increase.”

People in Sitka say this has been a difficult year for the community as well.

Two teens died and three were rescued in January after their boat capsized on the return from a hunting trip near Chichagof Island. In September, a 16-year-old was killed and three teens injured after their vehicle rolled into a steep ravine on the way home from a fishing trip, according to local media reports. Just over a month ago, commercial fishing advocate Tad Fujioka was killed by a bear on a deer-hunting trip.

“We’ve lost quite a few boats and friends and people are just struggling to understand it and carry on,” Behnken said.