Ground Search and Rescue mission at North Cape suspended

High winds prompted P.E.I. Ground Search and Rescue to scale back efforts Thursday night to find two missing fishermen.

A shoreline search continues for the fishermen, Glen DesRoches and Maurice (Moe) Getson, whose boat, Kyla Anne, capsized off North Cape Tuesday. One crew member made it to shore.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre ended its search on the water Wednesday evening.

GSAR stood down as night fell Thursday. The group intends to return when conditions improve. A special weather statement from Environment Canada is warning of strong winds into Saturday morning.

Some community members have also been out on the shoreline looking for the men or remains of the Kyla Anne to help focus the search. Local fishermen have been continuing the search on the water.

While there is no hope of finding the men alive, community members hope their bodies can be found so the families can put them to rest.

TSB investigating

Two investigators from the Transportation Safety Board were in Tignish on Thursday interviewing witnesses and collecting other information.

"What we're trying to find out when an accident like this happens is what happened and why it happened — the main issue here is why it happened," said Pierre Murray, regional manager of operations for the TSB in the Atlantic Region.

Murray said the investigation will also be looking at whether anything could be done to prevent similar incidents in the future.

"This is the first phase of the investigation. There's a lot more information that will have to be received and identified through other means, which might take several weeks, several months, even to really get to the crux of the matter."

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With files from Stephanie Kelly and Louise Martin