Better to know what happened, says skipper who helped find Shea Heights fishermen

The skipper who helped recover two men in a tragic fishing accident says it was hard, but he felt he had to do it for their friends and family.

Glen Winslow, owner of the Roberts Sisters II, which helped in Tuesday's recovery, said he knew where the men — Eugene Walsh, son Keith Walsh, grandson Keith Walsh Jr. and family friend Bill Humby — had been fishing for cod.

• Search continues for survivors after fishing boat sinks near Cape Spear

"We headed in that direction when we got out there," he said. "With the way the wind was, and the tide, we kind of went off in that direction, and we weren't very long and we spotted a life jacket in the water. And when we got up close to the life jacket, we could see that there was someone in it."

That was around 5 o'clock, said Winslow.

"Just before dark last night, I'd say about three-quarters of an hour before dark, we spotted a second person to the south, almost up towards Petty Harbour."

Winslow said the community of Shea Heights is holding up "pretty good" in the wake of the tragedy, but it's been difficult.

"It's not something you want to experience. The people … we know them all our lives … we're from the same community. I live in the same community. So it's pretty hard to deal with."

Fisherman locates two bodies off coast of Cape Spear

8 years ago

Duration 4:02

Fisherman Glen Winslow found the bodies of two missing men off the coast of Cape Spear on Tuesday.

Recovering the bodies was also hard, said Winslow.

"It's not what you wants to be doing, but you know that the people that you're doing it for wants you to do it," he said. "It's a little eerie coming across someone in the water, but at the end of the day it's a far better result to have than not knowing what happened."

Winslow said the coast guard and other fishermen involved in the search are doing a good job.

"I'm just hoping all of [the missing men] had life jackets on and we'll get the opportunity over the next couple of days of finding the other two," he said.

'Salt of the earth'

Terry Ryan talks about lost fisherman

8 years ago

Duration 5:11

Terry Ryan talks about lost fisherman

A friend of Keith Walsh Sr. and Humby said the men are the glue that holds the St. John's neighbourhood of Shea Heights together. 

"I hate to overuse the term 'salt of the earth,' as we do sometimes in Newfoundland, but if I could think of two people that were salt of the earth, it was those guys," Terry Ryan told CBC News.

The men were aboard a 6.7-metre open boat that was recovered near Cape Spear Wednesday morning.

The bodies of two of the four men were recovered by rescue crews the night before. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre told media Wednesday afternoon it has not given up hope of finding the other two alive. 

Ryan described Walsh as "a younger version" of Harold Druken, who was considered by many to be a pillar of the Shea Heights community. 

"You just always felt like you were going be OK when you were Keith."

Walsh's garage was a community hangout, and Ryan said he often found Humby and other neighbours there. Humby, he said, "might not have been blood but he was [considered by Walsh to be] family."

'He was like Santa Claus'

Ryan and Walsh played together on the same ball hockey team and, according to Ryan, Humby always watched their games.

Ryan said just a few days ago, he and Walsh spoke about starting their own ball hockey clinic for beginners, with Walsh volunteering to pay for the jerseys. 

"There wasn't many conversations with Keith that didn't involve other people and the doing of good. He was like Santa Claus," he said.

"Whether it be just a kid that wanted to come watch a ball hockey game, and Keith would buy him a hotdog and a drink and say, 'That's Terry Ryan, you know, [he] played for the Canadiens.'"

Ryan, who spent the last few months in Toronto away from family, said Walsh recently surprised him with an unexpected ticket home to play in the provincial ball hockey championships. Walsh even tacked an extra few days onto the trip so Ryan could spend time with his kids. 

"And he never asked for anything in return, he was just a good fellow like that."

Ryan said Walsh wasn't wealthy, but was "rich in family and values and friends."

'I always felt safe with Keith and Billy at the helm'

Keith, a commercial fisherman, also owned a moving company. Ryan said his friend "loved the water" and the group often spent afternoons on Freshwater Bay, listening to music. 

Ryan said Walsh and Humby took every precaution when taking others out on the water during the recreational food fishery. 

They always made sure I had my life jacket on.- Terry Ryan

"In the time that I spent on the water with them … I always felt comfortable and I always felt safe with Keith and Billy at the helm," he said. 

"When I went out with them, I never felt threatened. The boys always made sure that the conditions were calm. They always made sure I had my life jacket on."

'So outrageous'

Ryan described Humby as "the life of the party," who friends dubbed "the food king" because of his incredible appetite.

"Every night he would send me a message on Facebook of what he was eating that day and a big picture of it … there was nothing, right down to what he was eating for supper, that Billy didn't smile at," Ryan said. 

Just four days ago, he said the three were playing pool in Walsh's garage, reflecting on the loss of their friend and fellow ball hockey player Shawn Neary. Neary died unexpectedly a few weeks ago at 43.

"And Keith said, 'Man, you've got to live life to the fullest because you never know what's going to happen,'" Ryan recalled.

"It seems so outrageous for something like [this] to happen."

Ryan said Shea Heights has an incredible sense of community, and Walsh and Humby welcomed him into it with open arms. 

"I'm not just saying this. They were real, real good guys that united a community."

Melissa Earles-Druken, chair of the Shea Heights Community Board, said the community is "reeling" but still hopeful the other two missing men will be found alive.

"Our community will always hold out hope until we're told it's not something we should be doing," she said. "Those community members, they're our family, they're our friends, they're our loved ones, and like anybody in any community across the country, you're going to hold out hope, and that's what we're going to continue to do until we are advised that that's not where things are headed."