GOLD BEACH - Despite the sunny day Sunday, the mood was somber as searchers combed the beaches for signs of four commercial fishermen who were on a vessel that sank Saturday near the Rogue River.

The Ash, a 43-foot fiberglass boat recently purchased by Rob and Cecil Ashdown, of Port Orford, overturned Saturday afternoon, just after it left the mouth of the river.

Curry County Sheriff's Marine Deputy Ted Heath said a witness reported that a big wave hit it head-on and then another, bigger wave, tipped it over.

Heath said the bar at Gold Beach is treacherous, given the conditions Saturday.

A buoy 17 miles offshore of Port Orford reported waves of between 13 and 16 feet that afternoon. Those, combined with a high river running strong from rain runoff, at about 20,000 cubic feet per second, Heath said, can lead to disaster.

“It's just a percolator,” Heath said.

On the boat with 44-year-old Rob Ashdown were three crewmen: Mark Wagner, 40 and Joshua Northcutt, 30, both of Port Orford; and 39-year-old Louis Lobo of Las Vegas.

Two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and one 47-foot lifeboat responded to the emergency call on Saturday and searched until midnight. One helicopter returned for an hour or so Sunday morning, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Sixes River and Gold Beach Fire Departments and Curry County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team also continued searching the shoreline until dark on Sunday. Search and Rescue teams planned to return today. Ashdown's younger brother, Orion Ashdown, also searched the ocean on Saturday afternoon.

As of late Sunday, no survivors had been found, but one life raft, two survival suits, parts of a refrigerator and coolers, a sink and part of a countertop and bait were found among the debris that washed ashore as far south as Cape Sebastian. Two crab pot “blossoms” or “bouquets” - the visible signs of buoys tangled together in a bunch - were visible near the end of the south jetty and several yards further south.

Several friends and family members who were helping in the search confirmed that Ashdown was headed out to go crabbing. The Ash was a new boat for him, but he'd worked on it most of the fall after bringing it up from San Francisco. The engines needed some work and he added some ballast to the bow so it wouldn't sit so high in the water.

Ashdown had a load of crab pots on the boat, but not too many, according to his father, Cappy Ashdown, who said Rob realized the weather wasn't quite settled from the storms that passed through earlier in the week.

On Sunday, Cappy stood on the south jetty, staring at the surf crash at the mouth of the river in row after diagonal row. Sometimes the north side of the entrance was clear - he could see how Rob would have been able to get out. But further out, beyond the “green can” buoy, bigger surf was breaking, every once in awhile.

“You see that?” Cappy said, pointing at the water. “It's just insane.”

The entrance to Rogue River is relatively shallow, compared with other ports, and one of the most unpredictable bars on the coast.

Even so, Rob Ashdown was prepared to fish out of there during the winter. The Ash was too big to hoist out of the water - as other vessels are - at Port Orford. Ashdown was an experienced fisherman who was familiar with the intricacies of bar crossings.

“He was a highly skilled fisherman,” said Leesa Cobb, a friend of the family and whose husband, Darrell, sometimes fished with Ashdown. “He knew the ocean and he knew the grounds.”

Ashdown was part of one of Port Orford's renowned fishing families. He learned the trade from his father and he also had two other brothers who fish commercially.

For a town of 1,000 people, the loss of four fishermen will be felt for a long time.

“It's just devastating for our community,” Cobb said. “Everybody on that boat was really important to our community. Right now we're just focusing on supporting the families.”

Ashdown was for years president of the local fishermen's association and worked on salmon issues at the state and federal levels. He was one of the fishermen who worked at the annual fishermen's salmon barbecue, grilling fresh salmon for visitors. He worked with other groups to help build the fishermen's memorial at the port and also participated in the annual blessing of the fleet.

“He was a hard worker,” Cobb said. “He always worked.”

The loss of the Ash follows on the loss of a catamaran that was found wrecked on a beach near Lincoln City on Friday.

The vessel's emergency position indicating radio beacon was found to be locked inside a box aboard the boat and unable to float free of the vessel in the event of an emergency, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

The owner of the vessel, a resident of Renton, Wash., was located and reported he had hired a crew to bring the boat from South Africa to Seattle for participation in a boat show. The vessel was last seen leaving San Francisco Dec. 8 and it was scheduled to arrive in Port Townsend, Wash., Dec. 15.

The Coast Guard is asking that anyone who may have seen this vessel in transit from San Francisco please contact Coast Guard District 13 Command Center at (800) 982-8813.

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