Deckhand Tamara Buell was one of eight survivors who barely made it to shore after the Taki Tooo capsized Saturday. AP Photo

TILLAMOOK (AP) - Deckhand Tamara Buell wasn't worried about the weather conditions that ultimately capsized the Taki-Tooo, killing at least nine people.

Skipper Douglas Davis had been over the sometimes treacherous sandbar at the mouth of Tillamook Bay countless times, and so had the Taki-Tooo. The waves were up Saturday morning, but Buell said she anticipated an exhilarating but fairly routine cruise past the bar.

On Monday, Buell denied accounts that suggested Davis, who died in the accident, had tried to outrun the killer wave that overturned the Taki-Tooo.

She said there were two waves, one that put the boat sideways and another that rolled it over.

"It was just a freak accident," she said.

Buell was sitting next to Davis as the skipper eyed the water and watched as other vessels made the run past the bar. He waited 45 minutes for the water to settle. He had just watched another boat, the D&D, make the crossing with no apparent trouble, so he didn't hesitate.

Suddenly, a 10-foot wave smacked the Taki-Tooo, clamping its stern down in the rough water, Buell said. Davis backed down on the engine, and the vessel swung sideways, leaving the port side exposed to the next wave.

That wave was 12- to 15-feet high and climbed above the boat, she said. Buell said she gripped the dash with one hand and the wall of the flying bridge with the other, bracing for the impact, as the wave crashed against the boat. "It smashed into the side and flipped us over," she said.

Buell landed in the 52-degree water. When she surfaced seconds later and got her bearings, she saw the Taki-Tooo, belly up, about 100 feet away, between her and shore.

She saw the orange life raft surface ahead of her in the water, with passengers climbing aboard and others still in the ocean.

"I yelled to anyone who was near me to take off their boots and their pants and anything that was heavy and would drag them down," she said.

She was able to stay afloat and swimming until she reached the sandbar, where a friend - Jeff Brown, a deckhand on the Kerri Lin - dragged her to shore.

Buell, who had inhaled saltwater during her ordeal, drifted in and out of consciousness as people carried her to the back of a car.

She was taken to Tillamook County General Hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia and exhaustion.

Buell said the accident wouldn't drag her away from the work she loves.

"I'll probably be back before the end of the week," she said.