The Coast Guard ended its search Monday evening for three missing crab fishermen washed from the hull of the F/V Big Valley after she rolled Saturday morning 70 miles west of St. Paul. They are skipper Gary Edwards, 46, of Kodiak; Josias Hernandez Luna, 48, of Anchorage; and Aaron Marrs, 27, of Nashville, Tenn.

The body of Carlos Rivera, 35, of Uruguay and that of a second crewman from Belgium were recovered at the scene. The crewman from Belgium has not been officially identified because authorities have not located his family.

Cache Seel, 30, the only survivor, asked friend Travis Stark to relay the following account of his experience during the hours from when the canting of the boat woke him until he realized he was alone in the water, swimming toward a light he hoped came from the life raft.

“First, he wanted me to clear up a few things reported wrong in the national media,” Stark said.

“There was no icing. The temperature was 38 degrees. Cache was on wheel watch at 2:30 a.m. and there was no icing.

“The next thing he remembers is he wakes up in his bunk, and he was almost vertical. The boat was on its side — it was maybe 60 to 70 degrees over,” Stark said.

Seel’s bunk ran from side to side, not lengthwise, of the boat.

“Cache keeps his survival suit in his stateroom, so he put it on,” Stark said.

“Aaron (Marrs) was hollering. He was unable to get out of his stateroom because the door was up in the air, so Cache helped him get out.

“About the same time, Cache was aware that Danny (from Belgium) deployed one of the life rafts.”

Seel believes the other life raft deployed automatically. One raft was caught in the rigging for a while, but it broke free. Seel doesn’t know which of the two rafts he found while swimming, Stark said.

“The deck went 90 degrees within two minutes of starting to sink,” Stark continued.

“There were two crewmen, Aaron and Danny — Cache said they fell in without suits. They went out and fell with their suits in their hands. The boat was vertical at that point.

“Gradually it rolled and settled about two-thirds upside down.

“The rolling chock was up; two people were in the water and the other four were still on the boat which was rolling slowly,” Stark said.

Rolling chocks are like fins that run along either side of a keel from the stern forward. They are normally under water.

“Cache said the boat was turning slowly. They were able to walk along the outside of the hull as the boat rolled. Seel ended up near the stern and the other three were toward the front,” Stark said.

“Enough of the boat was still outside of water that the waves were not splashing him too hard. As the boat settled down further into the water the waves got more severe.

“It was pitch black by now. All the engines had quit; the generators had shut down. Cache couldn’t see the others. He said he could hear them, but they couldn’t communicate,” Stark said.

“Cache heard Gary yell the EPIRB had floated free. He could see it blinking. Everyone was hopeful at that point,” Stark said.

The EPIRB is an emergency position indicating radio beacon that automatically sends a signal to the Coast Guard when it floats free. It can also be manually activated.

For the next hour and a half, Seel held on to a strut, which supports the rudder, as waves washed over the upturned hull of the sinking boat.

“Every time a wave crested over the hull, Cache was upside down with his feet floating. The buoyancy of his survival suit kept his feet above his head,” Stark said. “Finally, as the boat got deeper and deeper into the water, he let go.

“For what he estimates was about 20 minutes, Cache was free and swimming. He couldn’t see or hear the others. Then he saw a white light and realized it came from the life raft. It took him another 30 minutes to get to the raft,” Stark said.

“Once in the raft, he vomited seawater and waited.

“The Coast Guard arrived a couple of hours later. A rescue swimmer helped him into the basket and they hoisted him up. Cache was the first to be picked up. Next, the chopper picked up Danny,” Stark said.

The Coast Guard vessel Stinson took Rivera from the water. He was wearing a survival suit.

Cache was flown to Kodiak Sunday. He is talking with family and friends of the other fishermen, the Coast Guard and insurance underwriters.

Cache told The Associated Press: “It’s a tragedy about these guys. Most of us have been together for years. They’re all very dear to me. Saying I’m sorry just doesn’t cut it.”

“Weather alone was not a factor in the boat going down,” Stark said.

“They were traveling in the trough, and Cache thought the waves were 12 to 15 feet.

“The boat was carrying 50 pots — that’s an average load; it’s what the boat is rated for,” Stark said.

Speculation as to why the Big Valley sank points to free surface, Stark said.

“Free surface” describes slack water that is free to move within a compartment that should be either completely full of water or completely empty.

“If a pump failed so water in the crab hold was slack; if a cutlass bearing broke and water flooded the engine room; or water got in the lazerette — physically it’s the same effect,” Stark said. “Water sloshes around inside the boat.”

All the weight moves to one side as the boat rocks. This is compounded by the actions of the waves hitting the side of the boat as it travels in the trough. At some point the side to side motion gets so extreme the boat can’t recover from a roll, Stark explained.