Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Rayford Carr may never fish again.

In an interview with the Coast Guard, the 50-year-old New Bedford fisherman said he spent about three hours perched on top of a capsized fishing vessel last night, waiting for someone to come to the rescue of him and his crewmate.

They were returning from squid fishing about 45 miles off the coast of New Jersey when the Newport-based boat began taking on water. Carr and Anthony Hendrickson, 22, were rescued hours later by Coast Guard helicopters.

Their captain, Phillip Ruhle, Sr., was still on the vessel when it sunk. The Coast Guard is still searching for Ruhle, an integral player in Rhode Island fisheries.

"Everything happened so fast," Carr said in the interview, "it seems like it happened in a second."

Carr said he had eaten and was lying down when the boat began taking on water. By the time he made it upstairs, he said, the boat had tipped 45 degrees.

He worked with Ruhle, trying to steady the vessel that Ruhle and his son, Phil Rhule, Jr. take out to sea. But the 8-to-10 foot waves and the 100,000 pounds of squid in the boat may have been too much.

"The whole time the cap was trying hard to get (the boat) to come up," Carr said. "And he didn't get a chance to all for help ... it happened so quick."

Carr and Hendrickson found themselves alone, perched atop the sinking ship.

"We had about an hour to an hour and a half of sunlight. We were hoping the captain would come up," Carr said, "but it never happened."

Ruhle, it appears, went down with his boat.

Three hours passed, and then a Coast Guard Helicopter arrived -- it picked Carr up first, but was low on gas. Hendrickson had to wait for a second rescue attempt.

"I never want to be in a situation like that again," Carr said, "never."

"As a matter of fact, I'm done fishing," he added.

"That's it."

 Tags  Rayford Carr Sea Breeze survivor video

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