In Memoriam 24
www.ncfish.org
July 11, 2017 On the afternoon of May 23, 2017 three families got the news that no one in the commercial fishing industry wants to hear. F/V Miss Debbie’s (47’ trawler) Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) activated. US Coast Guard located the overturned vessel about 90 minutes later but there was no sign of the crew. She reportedly went down about one mile North-east of Tybee Island near the South Carolina/ Georgia border. Local media reported a line of thunderstorms crossed the area at about the same time the beacon was activated and believe weather may have been a factor in the incident. Reportedly, an EF-1 tornado (winds between 100 and 110 mph) damaged homes on Wilmington Island near Tybee Island and gained strength becoming an EF-2 tornado (winds 111 and 135 mph) before reaching Fort Pulaski causing heavy damage to the Fort. The tornado then became a waterspout over the ocean. Search and rescue crews assisted the Coast Guard in its efforts to locate the fishermen and on May 26, 2017 the search was suspended. Ms. Debbie’s crew – Captain Gary McGowan, his stepson Benjamin Dover and Isaac West remain missing. Gary Steven McGowan, son of Joe and Jeanne, is the youngest of five children. He grew up in Engelhard, NC where he spent his summer’s working with his father, Joe and his brother Mike on commercial fishing vessels “Elba B” and “Rendezvous”. Gary has three sisters; one son, Joshua; two stepsons Ben and Charles; a granddaughter who lives with them; and, other grandchildren. On July 7, 1999 he married Shelia Dover. They moved to West Virginia in 2002 where they resided for eleven years. Gary became an Iron Worker and Welder for Eastern Omni and worked permit for Boilermakers (1996-2000). In 2000 he joined International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths and traveled across the United States working as a tube welder. Boilermakers build and repair power plants and repair paper mills and nuclear power plants. In 2005 he got his GED and attended the Hobart School of Welding where he became a Certified Welding Inspector. He worked on several Boilermaker jobs as Superintendent, General Foreman and Foreman Quality Assurance/Quality Control Welding Inspector. He had OSHA 500 training which enabled him to teach safety classes and had certifications to teach rigging classes. Gary and Shelia moved back to North Carolina in 2014 and he continued work on Boilermaker jobs until early 2016. Gary returned to commercial fishing in 2017 and became captain of the Miss Debbie owned by Hobo Seafood in Swan Quarter. Benjamin Joel Dover grew up in Williamston, NC. After graduation he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corp. Ben returned to North Carolina and worked in Wilmington for several years. He later lived and worked in Pennsylvania, then moved to West Virginia for three years where he repaired railroad cars and was a maintenance worker for Clay County School System. Ben returned to North Carolina in August of 2017 to be with his family who he dearly loved. After returning to North Carolina he worked on the docks at Hobo Seafood in Swan Quarter for Lee and Madge Williams and on the “Miss Debbie” with his stepfather Gary. Isaac West hired on the “Miss Debbie” as a deck hand while she was in Georgia. No biographical information was available at the time of this publication. Salonen Marine Salvage continues working to upright the “Miss Debbie”. Recovery of the fishing vessel will hopefully resolve the family’s questions about the disaster.
Captain Gary McGowan
Benjamin Dover