'I'm still shaken up from it:' Fishing boat captain tells about helicopter rescue

A fishing crew from Esgenoopetitj, N.B., is happy to be high and dry after running into trouble in Miramichi Bay this week.

The crew called for help at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday when they developed problems with their boat's hydraulic system.

They were attempting to make it back to port in Neguac with limited steering when they became stuck on a sandbar about three kilometres away.

"The rescue helicopter came by, and we could hear it and see it, but they couldn't see us unfortunately," the boat's captain, Buddy Dedam, told Shift's Vanessa Vander Valk. "It was very foggy and our flares didn't shoot off, our LED lights were not bright enough for them to see us."

That meant the crew had to wait for better conditions for a rescue.

"I think it was eight hours they say, I'm not really too positive, I'm still shaken up from it," said Dedam.

Dedam said he wasn't prepared to be stranded in the water.

"I didn't have anything. I didn't have my medication on me for my diabetes, and I didn't have the proper clothing to be warm, because I only had a t-shirt and my wet gear."

Before the boat, called Big Buddy, left for the day trip to set traps, it had gone through all the proper safety checks, and there was no indication of a problem on the trip out, he said.

Finally, daylight came and so did a much-needed rescue.

"I woke up in the morning barely moving, and that's when the helicopters found us," he said. "They airlifted us out of the boat, and the boat was just left aside to beach on a nearby shore. There was an ambulance waiting for us on the nearby shore when the helicopter landed."

Dedam said he is still recovering from a fever.

"Shaky and not 100 per cent, that's for sure."

The boat was retrieved later that evening at high tide and towed back to port.

Dedam said the two other fishermen were in roughly the same condition, suffering from hypothermia, although in a little better shape than him.

Dedam has been a captain since 1996. He said knows a lot more about what to do and what not to do to prepare for emergencies on a boat now, including bringing warm blankets and more flares.