News - Local News

POSTED: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008

Friends mourn loss of missing fisherman from Deming

Friends described Robert "Bob" Davis, the Deming man who is missing and presumed dead after the fishing boat he was on sank in Alaska on Oct. 22, as having a love of fishing and a knack for fixing any kind of electronic equipment.

Lynden resident Jay Oliveraz and Bellingham residents Jeff Leenstra and Rick Williams fished for king crab out of Alaska's Dutch Harbor with Davis, 49, for several years in the 1990s.

Williams captained the boat, Oliveraz and Leenstra worked on deck and Davis was the boat's engineer.

"The man had a brilliant mind," Williams said of Davis. "He could fix anything. With him working on the boat, you knew you'd never break down."

Davis was working as the chief engineer of the fishing vessel Katmai when it capsized in rough seas off the Aleutian Islands Oct. 22.

The boat was fully loaded with cod and returning to Dutch Harbor when it lost steering, according to testimony some crew members gave to federal investigators Monday.

When the boat started to take on water, Davis went below to pump water out, according to the testimony. The flooding spread, however, and the crew had to abandon ship.

Four of the boat's 11-member crew survived, five members died and two others - Davis and Carlos Zabala of Helena, Mont., - remain missing.

The Coast Guard spent several days searching for the pair but called off the effort Sunday.

Because he is missing and presumed dead, Davis should have his name preserved on a memorial at Zuanich Point Park for Whatcom County fisherman lost at sea, said Eugene Fairbanks, a committee member of the Squalicum Harbor Fishermen's Memorial.

"If there's anyone who deserves to have his name on that memorial, it's Bob," Williams said. "He died doing what he loved."

Katmai Fisheries has been in contact with Davis' family since the accident, and said the family requested not to be contacted or identified.