By Ralph Barnett

ARBROATH SHERIFF Norrie Stein has requested detailed information from the RNLI on potentially life-saving equipment for single-handed boat skippers before he delivers his findings and recommendations regarding the death of a popular creel fisherman.

Arbroath Sheriff Court yesterday heard evidence at a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Denis Cargill (60), whose body was recovered from the water after falling or being knocked overboard from his creel boat Boy Joshua in August last year.

The inquiry was told how Mr Cargill’s boat was noted not to have moved from its position for some time and that brothers Tommy and Donald Yule, attending to their creels nearby on the Sharon Rose, tried to contact him by radio and, as they got closer, by shouting.

Donald Yule said he went on board the Boy Joshua and found no sign of Mr Cargill and that, after raising the alarm by a Mayday message and being joined by RNLI volunteer lifeboat crewman Neil Swankie, he tried to raise the creels using the boat’s hauling gear to ascertain whether Mr Cargill had been caught by the fishing gear and pulled under water.

He said that, even with Mr Swankie’s assistance, this proved difficult and potentially dangerous as the hauling gear was worn and the rope kept jumping free and being pulled back into the water by the weight of the creels.

The inquiry was told that he decided to secure and cut the creel line before passing it to his brother, who is also the coxswain of the Arbroath RNLI lifeboat, on the Sharon Rose for him to raise the fleet of creels.

No sign of Mr Cargill was found and the two boats joined the major air and sea search which had been mounted until the police requested the Boy Joshua’s return to the harbour for examination.

Mr Cargill’s body was later spotted by the crew of an RAF search and rescue Sea King helicopter and was recovered by the Broughty Ferry lifeboat before being transferred to the Arbroath lifeboat and returned to shore.

Procurator fiscal Lis Miller read a letter from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

Their investigators concurred with the three witnesses’ assessment of how Mr Cargill died, which was that he was pulled or knocked overboard by his creel fishing gear as he was either removing his catch or rebaiting creels.

She asked the sheriff to return a formal finding of accidental death but, after asking the Yule brothers if there was anything they considered might influence any recommendations he might make, he decided to ask for more information from the RNLI.

Tommy Yule, who knew Mr Cargill as a fellow fisherman and a former member of the Arbroath lifeboat crew, told the sheriff, “I believe the wearing of lifejackets should be made mandatory.

“Denis had two lifejackets on hooks in his wheelhouse but he wasn’t wearing one.

“The RNLI has been working closely with the fishing industry to find a design suitable for fishermen and Donald and I have been involved in these trials.

“Self-inflating lifejackets are now available that don’t interfere with our work and are so compact you hardly know they’re there and I think they should be compulsory for all fishermen and leisure sailors—especially those going out alone.

“I have to admit that I never used to wear one—now I don’t go out without one on.

“The RNLI is also promoting an automatic man overboard alert device which sends a satellite signal to the coastguard giving the position of the casualty, meaning that a search and rescue effort could be launched almost immediately.

“Combined with a lifejacket, this system would greatly increase the chances of a single-handed skipper being found quickly and could, quite literally, mean the difference between life and death.”

Mr Yule concluded, “The bottom line is cost because fishermen are finding it hard enough to make ends meet with rising fuel costs and so on and catch prices that have remained virtually static for years.”

Sheriff Stein adjourned the inquiry until June 3.

He also told Mr Cargill’s daughter Helen, who sat through the evidence with other family members, “This has been one of the most emotional inquiries of this type I have ever presided over as I had met and spoken to your dad on several occasions and always found him to be a very pleasant man.

“I am sure that the family, the town’s fishing community, the RNLI and—of course—your dad himself would want to see some good come out of this tragedy.”