Residents of a southwestern Nova Scotia community where five young fishermen were lost at sea are "broken" as they deal with the news that the search has been called off, said a Baptist pastor.
"I was with one of the family members last evening when that news came and of course, they're broken and in very much pain," said Phil Williams, pastor of the Calvary United Baptist Church in Lower Woods Harbour.
"As one old fisherman told me yesterday — who has been through times like these himself — he said with tears running down his cheeks, 'We will get through this.'"
The formal search for the crew of the Miss Ally, a 13.5-metre boat, was called off and reduced to a missing persons case late Tuesday as officials concluded there was little hope for their survival in rough seas and cold water.
Two Canadian Coast Guard vessels, a Hercules aircraft, a Cormorant helicopter and a private plane contracted by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada were recalled, while mariners travelling through the area were told to be on the lookout for the fishermen or their life-raft.
Williams said opinions on the search were split in the community.
"I'm sure you'd have two opinions, those who wish that the search would continue indefinitely and those who come to the realization that perhaps all has been done," he told CBC News on Wednesday morning.
The five missing men — Billy Jack Hatfield, Joel Hopkins, Katlin Nickerson, Steven Cole Nickerson and Tyson Townsend — left Cape Sable Island on Feb. 12 to go fishing for halibut.
There has been no sign of the five young fishermen on the Miss Ally. (Facebook) The military said the emergency locator beacon on the boat — which typically activates when it hits salt water — transmitted a signal on Sunday night about 120 kilometres southeast of Liverpool, as the boat was lashed by 10-metre waves and whipped by winds.
There were no distress calls broadcast from the vessel's crew before the beacon went off, said the navy.
Todd Nickerson, Katlin Nickerson's father, told CBC News on Wednesday morning that he wanted officials to pursue a longer search for his son. He said he was too upset to say anything more.
'It's been really tough'
Williams said people in Woods Harbour are bringing food to the five families, and are rallying around them to provide support. He said hundreds of people have attended a prayer vigil at his small church, where five candles are flickering in honour of the fishermen.
"These boys were young and enthusiastic and were fishermen right to the core, and were only desiring to make a living," he said.
"As we look to the most senior of our population, what an inspiration they have been to me personally, just to hear their stories and how they have been through such tragedies and yet have continued on with their lives and their livelihoods."
Tina Hatfield of Cape Sable Island said her nephew, Billy Jack Hatfield, is an outgoing man who worked as a carpenter.
"Most of the young men in this community have fished since they were able to go aboard a boat," she told The Canadian Press.
"Most of the time, the young fellas go in the boat after their fathers and grandfathers."
Hatfield said her nephew, in his early 30s with two young children, was the oldest member of the crew.
Dick Crowell, harbour manager at the Harbour Authority of Cape Sable Island, said people in the community have been comforting each other since news of the tragedy spread.
"It's been really tough. Almost everybody that you talk to is connected in some way with the families and you can hear it in their voices. These sort of tragedies are never easy to handle when the families are so connected," he said Wednesday.
"It's so difficult because all you can do is stand on the shore and look seaward. Anybody who's made a living on the sea knows that when you look out to sea there are many times when the families who are ashore wonder and worry."
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