Obituary

 Jake Gilman passed away on October 22, 2008 in the Bering Sea after his boat the F.V. Katmai unexpectedly took on water and sank. He fought courageously for 19 hours but rescuers weren’t able to get to him in time.

Jake was born on November 1, 1985 in Vancouver. He was a lifetime Camas-Washougal resident and a graduate of Camas High School in 2004. Growing up he became a C-W Little League and Babe Ruth All-Star. Throughout school he worked at the Camas Dairy Queen, Totem Rent-All of Washougal, Gregg’s Roofing, and as hunting guide in Idaho, before getting his final job as a commercial fisherman aboard the F.V Katmai for Katmai Fishing Inc. of Kodiak, Alaska. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing, and he also enjoyed Muay Thai MMA, and skateboarding.

Jake is survived by his parents Shara and Ronald Martindale, sister Hannah Cagle, brother Coe Cagle, stepsisters Alta Hertz, and Lynn Hertz, step-brother Trapper Martindale, grandparents Charles and Vickie Menefee, and Betty Thornton, uncle and aunt Robert and Pam Menefee, and numerous cousins and friends.
There will be a Celebration of Jake’s Life on what would have been his 23rd birthday, Saturday, November 1st at 1:00 pm at Camas High School: 26900 SE 15th St., Camas, WA 98607. Viewing will be held Wednesday thru Friday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm at Brown’s Funeral Home in Camas. Vault interment will take place at the Fern Prairie Cemetery in Camas. Memorials in Jake’s honor may be sent to either St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital: 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1942 or Doernbecher Children’s Hospital: M/S 20, PO Box 4100, Portland, OR 97208-9908.
Brown’s Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Camas has been entrusted with arrangements.

 Sourcing: State Death Certificate – Brown’s Funeral Home

 Following articles were posted in The Vancouver Columbian newspaper

Camas man among five dead after vessel sinks near Alaska

Friday, October 24 | 8:18 a.m.

By THE SEATTLE TIMES

A Camas man was among five fishermen who died when their vessel sunk Wednesday in the waters of Alaska\'s Aleutian Islands.

Killed were Cedric Smith and Glenn Harper, both of Portland; Jake Gilman of Camas; Joshua Leonguerrero of Spanaway; and Fuli Lemusu of Salem, Ore.

Searchers on Thursday headed to the site where fishermen were missing after their vessel sank in frigid and storm waters off Alaska. Four were rescued.

A C-130 airplane and a Jayhawk helicopter were dispatched to search for the men still missing from the sinking of the Katmai, which sent a distress signal around 1 a.m. Wednesday. The aircraft were to arrive by mid-morning.

Coast Guard rescuers pulled the survivors from a life raft about 15 hours after the distress call. They were rescued in 43-degree water near the Amchitka Pass, which links the Bering Sea to the Pacific Ocean about 1,400 miles southwest of Anchorage.

5 dead when fishing boat sinks off Alaska; 4 saved

Thursday, October 23 | 2:15 p.m.

By BY STEVE QUINN - ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Searchers on Thursday headed to the site where two fishermen were missing after their vessel sank in frigid and storm waters off Alaska. Five other crew members died and four were rescued.

A C-130 airplane and a Jayhawk helicopter were dispatched to search for the men still missing from the sinking of the Katmai, which sent a distress signal around 1 a.m. Wednesday. The aircraft were to arrive by mid-morning.

Coast Guard rescuers pulled the survivors from a life raft about 15 hours after the distress call. They were rescued in 43-degree water near the Amchitka Pass, which links the Bering Sea to the Pacific Ocean about 1,400 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The crew\'s survival suits, physical condition and their efforts to keep one another semi-warm and awake all could have helped them endure, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read.

\"They were in good spirits and in good shape,\" Read said. \"They asked to stay, so they could continue to help with the search.\"

It wasn\'t clear what happened to the 93-foot Katmai. The Coast Guard received an e-mail from another boat saying the Katmai had lost steering and was taking on water, Read said.

One of the bodies found was recovered by a fishing vessel that helped the Coast Guard with the search.

The Coast Guard reported 10- to 15-foot seas in the area, with winds from the north at 34 mph. The area had a mix of rain and snow.

The Katmai was carrying a load of cod and heading toward Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, Read said. Dutch Harbor is 800 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The ship is owned by Seattle-based Katmai Fisheries. Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeBell told The Associated Press on Thursday that the company, which owns just the one ship, was working with the families to help them deal with the situation.

The company has not yet released the names of the crew. DeBell said most were from Washington, with the remainder from Oregon and Alaska.

DeBell said the captain, identified by his brother as 40-year-old Henry Blake, is among the survivors.

Coast Guard suspends search for 2 crewmembers

Sunday, October 26 | 7:15 p.m.

By BY MARY PEMBERTON - ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

The Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for two crewmembers in the deadly sinking of a fishing vessel that took on water in stormy seas last week near the Aleutian Islands.

Carlos Zabala, 30, of Helena, Mont., and Robert Davis, 49, of Deming, Wash. were among an 11-member crew aboard the 93-foot Katmai when it began taking on water and sank early Tuesday.

The Coast Guard said it suspended the search for the two after conducting an unsuccessful search of 4,871 square miles of ocean.

\"While our minds remain on Coast Guard missions, our hearts are with the families during this difficult time,\" Capt. Mike Inman, chief of response for the 17th Coast Guard District, said in a news release.

Petty Officer Richard Brahm said Sunday if anything turns up in the days to come, the Coast Guard can reopen the search. Fishing vessels in the area are expected to continue to keep a lookout, he said.

The Coast Guard and the Air National Guard conducted the search, using the cutter Acushnet from Ketchikan, MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, a HC-130 Hercules aircraft and pararescue swimmers. Two Good Samaritan fishing vessels also helped to recover the dead.

The five bodies that were recovered were identified as Joshua Leonguerrero, 19, Spanaway, Wash.; Cedric Smith, 38, Portland, Ore.; Glenn Harper, 35, Portland; Jake Gilman, 22, of Camas, Wash., and Fuli Lemusu, 44, Salem, Ore.

Four crewmembers survived, including Capt. Henry Blake, 40, of Worcester, Mass. The three other survivors were identified as Adam Foster, 23, Shoreline, Wash., and Harold Appling, 30, and Guy Schroeder, 50, both of Anchorage.

The four were rescued from a life raft 17 hours after the fish processing vessel sank in a severe storm. The crewmembers who survived were found wearing survival suits and in a life raft. The five bodies that were recovered were in survival suits but floating in the water.

A three-member investigative panel is expected to hear testimony Monday in Anchorage from the surviving crew members as well representatives of Katmai Fisheries Inc., of Seattle, the boat\'s owner. The National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating the sinking.

According to the Coast Guard, when problems began the Katmai sent an e-mail to a nearby vessel that said it was taking on water in the rear, where the steering was housed.

All the crew members were able to get into survival suits, according to members of another fishing vessel in the area that received the e-mail.

A survival suit can extend the life of people in cold waters, depending on their physical condition, how panicked they are or whether they are in a group or a life raft. Without a suit, death comes very quickly, sometimes within minutes. With a suit, people can live for several hours when tossed into cold water.