Bodega Bay community remembers fishermen

It was a day to ponder the joy and risk of life on the sea when the fishing community of Bodega Bay met under gray skies Sunday afternoon to honor four fishermen who died when their boat capsized Nov. 1.

Family and friends of two longtime Bodega Bay fishermen lost that day - Jesse Langley, 79, and Sam Garcia, 86 - organized the salmon potluck and informal gathering at the Porto Bodega marina clubhouse to celebrate the two experienced fishermen’s lives.

“Sam loved to go fishing, and he intended to live to be a hundred,” said his widow, Judith Garcia. “One time, he tipped his boat over by Half Moon Bay and he was in the water, and that time he got pulled out. But when it’s your time to go, whether you’re on the sea or crossing the street, you’re gonna go.”

The crowd of more than 200, which filled the hall and spilled out into the parking lot, also honored two others who died with Langley and Garcia when the fishing boat The Frog was hit by a sneaker wave off Bodega Rock.

David Costa, 60, a Ripon almond rancher, and Christine Puetz, 56, a relatively new resident of Bodega Bay, had hoped to both become commercial fishermen, friends said.

“David wanted to get into commercial fishing and was just getting acquainted with it,” said professional fisherman Butch Hofland of Sebastopol. “It was just a quirk that he was on the boat that day. He decided he wanted to go fishing at the last minute.”

Another fishing professional, Tina Moreda of Bodega Bay, said her friend Puetz looked forward to a new career as a commercial fisherman.

“We fished together and she loved it,” Moreda said. “People in this fishing community choose this life, and we talk about the risk all the time. We all respect the ocean, and we know it can change anytime.”

Both Garcia and Langley had long been respected and beloved members of the Bodega Bay community, Hofland said.

“They were just the nicest people,” he said. “They’d help other people whenever they could.”

While the four deaths remain a tragedy that will linger in the memories of the tight-knit fishing community of Bodega for a long time to come, Sunday was a chance to remember them fondly, Hofland said.

“It is a tragedy, but this is something to reflect on, and this is a day to celebrate these guys it happened to,” he said.

Those who came to share the moment included the one survivor from the sinking of The Frog.

Phillip Sanchez, 66, of Bodega Bay was thrown in the water when the wave hit the fishing boat and he managed to swim to a rock, where he was rescued by a helicopter.

Officials estimated that 300 boats were out the day of the accident on Bodega Bay for the start of the recreational crab season.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan?Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor?@pressdemocrat.com.