Drownings highlight dangers at busy Fishermen's Terminal

Michael Wayne Grady was an accomplished deckhand who had worked on the fishing vessel Long Island II for years, according to friends and others who knew him.

So they're at a loss to explain how the bodies of Grady, 45, and his girlfriend, Linda Sue Clark, 39, ended up in the water at Fishermen's Terminal. The bodies were found Friday just off of Dock 9, where the Long Island II was tied up.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office has determined that both Grady and Clark drowned. Seattle police say there is no indication of foul play, and they are not investigating the deaths.

Because the cabin door of the Long Island II was open and the heat was running at full blast, friends of Grady's theorize that he had been asleep and had gone to the aid of Clark, who may have slipped when she tried to board the fishing vessel. However, Port of Seattle police, who are investigating the deaths, said Monday they have not determined what happened.

The deaths are the most recent in a string of four apparent drownings at the terminal in the past four months and, some say, highlight safety concerns the Port of Seattle has long ignored.

Fisherman Pete Knutson, a longtime critic of the Port, said it has disregarded simple, inexpensive solutions — such as placing floating cork lines that could be grabbed by a person in the water near the docks or laying nonskid strips in front of moorage slips — that were suggested in February.

"It's a dangerous set of docks," he said. "The main problem is that the docks are old and the Port didn't want to put any money into an industry they were hoping would go away."

After the body of fishing-boat crew member Kip Gilmartin, 42, was found in December, Knutson and 28 other fishermen wrote to the Port to complain of specific safety issues.

For example, Knutson said, the untreated wood docks are extremely slippery. In addition, he said, there are not enough life rings and ladders leading from the water to the docks and the lighting is inadequate.

Port of Seattle spokesman Mick Shultz said some risk factors at the terminal, such as 24-hour public access and the lack of guardrails on the docks, are a result of the needs of a working fishing fleet.

"The fishermen have told us that they need the docks to remain open 24 hours a day, and they have told us they don't want us to install gates or key guards," Shultz said. Guardrails around the docks are impractical, he said, because fishermen need to be able to haul heavy gear onto their vessels.

Shultz said an investigation in February by the state Department of Labor and Industries, around the time when the body of 40-year-old Barlo Buck Rea was found floating near the docks, did yield several concerns.

The L&I report found that Dock 5 was excessively slippery, that there were some problems with missing pieces on electrical breaker panels and that there was inadequate lighting in some areas, he said.

The investigation also found that Docks 3 and 4 lacked low bull-rails to prevent a vehicle from driving over the edge and that a ladder off of Dock 3 was too short.

An L&I spokeswoman said Monday that the report has not yet been released, but she confirmed the nature of the safety concerns it mentions.

Shultz said all of those issues have been addressed or are scheduled to be fixed within the month and that a $21 million project to replace the terminal's wooden piers with floating, cement docks is scheduled to begin this year.

Many people who work at the terminal said safety issues at the busy port were no more serious than in other fishing communities.

"This is nothing worse than anywhere else. In fact, this is one of the best fishing piers I've seen," said Dan Cain, who said he's worked aboard fishing vessels for years at ports in Alaska and Ireland, where he said the main cause of dock accidents was alcohol use.

"More fishermen would get drunk and fall off the pier than would die at sea," he said.

Leilani and Nathan Sanborn, who dock their fishing boat near the Long Island II, said they'd known Grady for years and were upset by his death.

He was a hardworking, helpful and pleasant man who'd just begun the relationship with Clark and seemed happier than they'd ever seen him.

"He'd started getting himself all spiffed up," Leilani Sanborn said.

Still, she said, drownings happen in areas where people work close to the water.

"If you work around boats and live around boats, you know it's dangerous and you have to be careful," said Leilani Sanborn.

"It's just a shame."

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com