MADEIRA BEACH, Florida (8 Mar 2008) — Boat captain Ron House watched his deckhand dive underwater one more timeto cut tangled line off thefishing boat Julissa's propeller. Then his friend's feet stopped moving. "I went in after him,"House said. But he couldn't find Glenn W. Lycans in the water beside the docks at Madeira Beach Seafood. "I've been doing this for 16 years," said House, 53, "and I've never lost a man." Rescue workers recovered the body of Lycans, 49, nearby about two hours later. Commercial fishermen and women milled glumly around the docks after the accident Friday morning. All of them know what makes their job so dangerous: hurricanes, high waves, even the gear itself. But this time a longtime deckhand drowned right beside the docks, next to the boat he was working on, with his captain nearby. "I don't understand," said Andrea Zaleski, who used to employ Lycans on another fishing boat. Longline commercial fishing boats go out for 10 to 14 days at a time, laying 5 miles or more of fishing line, to catch grouper, amberjack and other fish. Even beside the docks, the water can be treacherous, other fishermen said. When tides rush in or out, currents can whip a man away like a leaf in the wind. Others said the water beneath the docks is littered with junk, including old shopping carts and bicycles, making things even more hazardous. "It's high tide and right in here there's rip tides," said Sam Rhodes, 28, captain of the Julissa. Some fishermen on the docks were quick to assign blame, with a few telling Rhodes he should have made sure Lycans was tied to a safety line. But Rhodes, barefoot and wearing a tan fleece jacket and blue swimming trunks, was fighting back tears as he stood beside the docks after the accident. He said he tried. Boat captain Sam Rhodes, center, listens as Andrea Zaleski, right, questions him Friday after the drowning of Glenn Lycans. The deckhand was cutting fishing line from a propeller when he disappeared. His body was found nearby two hours later. | | Glenn Lycans, 49, lived aboard a fishing boat, the Pedro Julio, and was a deckhand for years. "I told him to put a line on," he said to one of the fishermen who criticized him. Lycans didn't work under Rhodes. He worked for House, who is captain of another ship called the Pedro Julio. Because both boats have the same owner, Lycans worked on the Julissa's propeller while House watched closely, he said. "He did not want a line around his waist," House said. Instead, they rigged a line with both ends tied to the boat, close enough so the man could easily grab the line, House said. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and several other agencies responded and its investigation continues. A member of the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue team recovered Lycans' body. The owner of the boat could not be identified or reached for comment Friday. Friends said Lycans was a good man who sometimes drank a lot, but knew his craft. He lived aboard the Pedro Julio. "He was a hard worker," Zaleski said. "He worked for me for years." SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
