Three commercial fishermen were rescued by the Coast Guard the morning of March 10 when their boat broke free from its moorage in a 70 mph windstorm.
Bergen, a 52-foot wooden fishing boat based in Gig Harbor, had been moored as the crew prepared for a three-month trip to Bristol Bay to fish for black cod.
The boat, built in 1939, makes the trip every year, said deckhand Jacob Imholt of Everett.
“Seventy-five years, I believe,” he told The Bellingham Herald. “And this is the end of it.”
The windstorm roared into Whatcom County Wednesday night with gusts of 70 mph, stripping trees and knocking out power for thousands. The Bergen was tied to pilings with thick dock line: a bowline, a mid-ship line and a stern line, said Imholt, 35.
