tales-of-Fogo-Island

As darkness approached, fog and drizzle also moved over the land. Soonfamily members began to seek information on what was happening.Accounting for the number of men and their location became the focus ofactivity, with Cyril Burke doing most of the coordinating through VHF,telephone and word of mouth. Soon, word arrived that the boats owned by thefollowing people, had made it to Seldom; Leo Burke, Len McGrath, Gus Foley,Justin McGrath, Neil McGrath, and Roy Dwyer.Knowing that others were still trapped in the ice, Cyril continued to listenintently for any new calls. Soon after, he was told that Owen Combden wasout in a boat, but probably did not have a radio. At dusk, another sealer,Gerard Dwyer, called saying that things were not looking good for him. He hadhis two sons, David and Wade with him as well as Jim Broders and they werehaving a rough time making headway. A few moments later, Gerard reportedthat a boat was coming toward him. It was Owen, Wince and Derek Combden,and Derek's son, Clifford. This was good news. Now, three boats wereaccounted for.People from all over the island were anxious to find out what was happening.With ears bent toward their VHFs, they waited for someone else to call. Bynow, it was certain that three other boats were missing. This number droppedby one, when Bill Burke called Cyril on the VHF. Bill had his son, Matt withhim as well as Basil Lane. They were around the Cherry Grounds and werestill able to make some progress. However, they would soon run into thickerice. Cyril informed them that the Bernier was on its way to the scene.It was later learned that Young Matt had filled his boots and the cold wasstarting to have an effect on him. Knowing that something had to be done, hisfather helped remove his boots and socks and then tried to warm his son'sfeet with his hands. Luckily, that morning, Bill had sent him back to the houseto get a spare pair of socks. After putting on these socks, Matt's feet werewrapped in plastic bags and put back into the boots.Garry Mahoney was next to contact Cyril. He and Danny Dwyer were low ongas and in thick ice. According to Garry's navigation equipment, they were inthe same area as Bill Burke and the boys. Garry quickly decided to shut downand wait for assistance.At this time, concern for Ed Foley's boat began to creep into everyone's mind.With Ed were Martin Foley, Herb Burke and another of Bill Burke's sons, Mike.They had no radio, no GPS and had not been seen since earlier thatafternoon. As the night wore on, the weather worsened. The wind began to