A New Brunswick lobster boat captain who died after his boat sank near Grand Manan Island on Tuesday is being remembered as a hero who spent the last moments of his life saving others.
Witnesses have told CBC News that Clifford Nodding threw life jackets to his crew and then stayed on his boat, the Big Sister, to call for help after the vessel capsized in the frigid waters of the Bay of Fundy.
Tony Hooper, a Blacks Harbour sardine plant worker knew Nodding and heard his call for help come in on the marine radio on Tuesday morning.
"Cliffy being the captain, he knew the importance of getting the word out," Hooper said. "When minutes and seconds count, he just come on the radio and said he was going down and going down fast."
All but about two metres of the ship's bow went underwater in the area approximately 12 kilometres south of Blacks Harbour near a group of small rocky islands called The Wolves. Winds at the time were about 40 kilometres per hour.
It was just two hours into the first day of the lobster fishing season when the accident happened.
A nearby lobster boat plucked three of Nodding's crewmen from the water but the captain was thought to still be trapped inside the boat.
He was later spotted by a herring seiner, pulled from the water and taken to the mainland. From there, he was rushed to the Saint John Regional Hospital but later died.
"It could have been a lot worse. The other three fellas, they were lucky they got out and they tell me it was quite an ordeal on the sea but at least the three of them got saved," said Blacks Harbour fire Chief Dale Shaw.
A hockey dad and father of three, Nodding was well-known in the fishing community of Beaver Harbour, said Rick Doucet, MLA for Charlotte-The Isles.
"I think we all understand the dangers of setting out on the water," Doucet said, "that something can go wrong. But you just don't think it's going to happen here. When you hear that this happened, it hit home hard for myself and my family especially when you know him, you know him well."
The partially submerged vessel was towed back to dock.
RCMP in St. George, N.B., are continuing the investigation in conjunction with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Nodding's funeral will be held Thursday at the Calvary Atlantic Baptist Church in Blacks Harbour.
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