Grief Grips Bodega Bay in Puzzling Loss of 12 Citizens

Earl Nevins stared down at the pale olive sea, watching the gentle waves consume a delicate wreath of wildflowers. And then he wept.

Others on the deck of the New Sea Angler wept, too. The rest stood somberly as a long procession of fishing boats glided past the pretty remnants of the wreath bobbing softly in the water.

The sea has not been kind to the people of Bodega Bay, and it showed Sunday when local clergymen sailed out of the bay for the annual blessing of the tiny town’s large fishing fleet.

About four dozen ships joined the ceremony, making for what several local folks said was the largest turnout in the 12-year history of the Fisherman’s Festival.

Nine fisherman out of this coastal village of 950 people north of San Francisco have been lost at sea over the last year, while on-shore accidents claimed three other people--a 10th fisherman washed off a breakwater and two boys were smothered by beach sand.

It is a crushingly high toll, especially when added to the chronic economic problems caused by three disastrous salmon harvests spawned by curious ocean currents and new government rules.

“I’ve been here since ‘65, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Nevins, 79, an excavation contractor and the town’s only resident preacher.

He paused, then shook his head as if to ward off the frustration apparent on his tanned and weathered face. “Nobody understands it,” he said slowly. “I mean, why is this happening to us?”

Others are bothered by the mysterious nature of some of the accidents, the ones where 70-foot, steel-hulled, seaworthy fishing boats simply vanish with their seasoned crews.

Some people blame huge “sneaker waves,” such as those that are known to have capsized and torn apart other fishing boats even in the best of weather. Others suspect that American or Russian submarines were snared in nets and pulled the fishing boats to the bottom, an idea the Navy investigated and dismissed.

“They were all extremely experienced draggers (fishermen who drag nets) working in calm seas,” said Paul Domenigoni, a local sports fisherman. “Yet there are no boats and no debris (after an accident). People just don’t know what to think.”

The bodies of five men still have not been found, leaving their bereaved families without death certificates, Social Security benefits or insurance settlements.

Monsignor Thomas Keys, who came from the Catholic Church in Santa Rosa, 20 miles inland, to help conduct the ceremonies, did not offer any answers about the past, only God’s help in the future.

“Dear Lord,” he began his brief remarks, “protect them from all harm . . . especially in this year of tragedy.”

He and Nevins together tossed the handmade wreath of fresh wildflowers and pine boughs into the sea, and later showered holy water on each of the town’s gaily decorated fishing boats.

“These guys are worried,” said Darel Southstone, a bugler who played taps at the memorial ceremony. “They were all saying how they would never pass up a chance for some of that ‘lucky water.’ ”