Survivor describes engine failing, boat capsizing in Bay

VIRGINIA BEACH

In shin-deep water, Ric Rokey tried to restart the outboard engine. Without power, his boat was being pummeled by unrelenting winds and 3 - to 4-foot waves. It began to list.

Allen Dedrick rushed to hand out life vests to the five other fishermen aboard the 18-foot Tracker and slipped into one himself. But before the others were able to get them on, the boat capsized, tossing everyone into the 45-degree water not far from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

The survivors, the ones in condition to talk, gave Virginia Beach investigators the first accounts of what happened when their aluminum boat overturned Wednesday morning.

Two Arizona men died, Dedrick, 69, and Ric Rokey's father, Ned, 89. The others were rescued.

On Thursday, police still were sorting through forensic photographs and examining the boat. An autopsy of Ned Rokey confirmed he died from drowning and hypothermia. Autopsy results are pending for Dedrick.

For five years, the anglers had come to Virginia Beach to go after striped bass. They were here in December, too, but Wednesday morning it all went wrong.

The six men, between 62 and 89, arrived at the Lynnhaven Inlet city boat ramp next to the Lesner Bridge before 8 a.m. They parked their white Dodge Ram and paid to put their boat in the water.

Soon they were motoring under the Lesner Bridge, headed east toward Cape Henry. About a mile out, they ran into trouble, police spokesman Adam Bernstein said.

A wave struck the side of the boat, stalling the 50-horsepower Mercury motor. At 8:57, someone radioed "Mayday, mayday" for help. And as the boat took on water, the men shifted their weight, but they couldn't keep it from capsizing.

In the water, the men held onto the engine attached to the boat's stern. Around them, a cooler and life jackets were scattered in the water. Moments later, Dedrick, who owned the boat, lost his grip and the current pulled him away, Bernstein said.

No one could reach him.

The men had been in the water about a half-hour before a Coast Guard helicopter lowered a bucket at 9:25 a.m. Two survivors were able to climb on top of the overturned boat. They were lifted into the chopper.

The other survivors and Dedrick were pulled from the water by a Coast Guard boat and launch captains from the Maryland Pilots Association. Beach police found Ned Rokey and started CPR, Bernstein said.

On Thursday, more than 24 hours after the accident, only one of the four survivors had been released from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The others were being treated for hypothermia. Police declined to release their names.

Only one other boat left that ramp on Wednesday.

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com