Three Saved After Boat Sinks; One Still Missing

A Coast Guard helicopter plucked two brothers and another fisherman from the icy Gulf of Alaska early Saturday after their boat sank, and searchers were scanning the dark, windswept waves for a third brother.

A distress beacon from the 52-foot Becca Dawn was picked up by the Coast Guard stations in Juneau and Sitka at about 11 p.m. Friday, said Petty Officer Roger Wetherell.

The vessel went down in 20-foot seas in the Fairweather Grounds, about 70 miles southeast of Yakutat, known for its fierce storms.

About 80 minutes later, a helicopter found Lee Nash, 25; Song Nash, 26; and Jesse McGraw, 23, in the water, all wearing survival suits, Wetherell said.

“Three of them were clinging together. The boat was gone,” Wetherell said. “There was just a huge debris field.”

Olin Nash, 21, was also wearing a survival suit, his brothers told the Coast Guard, but he became separated from the rest as the crew abandoned the boat. Rescuers hope he managed to launch the Becca Dawn’s life raft and remains adrift somewhere.

Three helicopters and two planes searched the area.

Although an unprotected person will die within minutes in Alaska’s frigid waters, a properly sealed survival suit can keep a person floating and alive for hours.

The three rescued fishermen were treated for mild hypothermia, Wetherell said. None was seriously injured.