Tignish restaurant employee aids fisherman who swam to shore after boat capsized

What started out as a regular Tuesday evening at the Wind and Reef restaurant quickly changed, as the establishment transformed into a base for search efforts after a boat capsized near Tignish, P.E.I., late Tuesday afternoon.

Restaurant hostess Cathy Gallien says a young man showed up at the restaurant, soaking wet, at around 5:20 p.m. 

"He was really shaking, and he was really not himself. I thought he was in shock. And he said to me, he said 'The boat went down, the boat went down,'" Gallien said. "And he said 'Help me.'" 

The Wind and Reef is in the North Cape Wind Energy Interpretive Centre building at the westernmost tip of P.E.I., not far from the shore. 

"He said, 'I swam ashore, and I walked here," Gallien recalled.

911 call

Gallien said she wrapped the young man in warm tablecloths, called his family and dialled 911 — setting off a search effort for two fishermen who did not make it back to shore. 

She said the young man and his family stayed at the restaurant until around midnight, as the Coast Guard searched the waters and firefighters and others in the community searched on land for any sign of the two missing fishermen or the wreckage of the boat, the Kyla Anne.

All the community around here is all fishermen…. When one hurts, everybody hurts.— Beatrice Arsenault

The boat is believed to have capsized a few kilometres from shore.

"We have a restaurant, maybe eight, 10 tables in at the time, and they're all looking out at the water and the waves. And it happened not that far out, and yet no one seen it," Gallien said.

Community rallying together 

With improved weather, more vessels have joined the search efforts — including airplanes, boats and a helicopter.

Local firefighters, RCMP, Ground Search and Rescue and community volunteers continue to comb the shorelines.

Community members gathered Wednesday for a prayer vigil at St. Simon and St. Jude Catholic Church in Tignish.

Beatrice Arsenault, a lifelong resident of the community, was there.

"When there's something going on and trouble, everybody pulls together and it's wonderful to see."

Arsenault said she heard about the missing fishermen Tuesday through a prayer chain she is a part of.

"I didn't make no prayer calls because I thought — there could be some of mine, because most of my family is fishermen also."

She said she went up to North Cape where community members had gathered.

"It was unbelievable to see the people that were there gathering."

"All the community around here is all fishermen … When one hurts everybody hurts."

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