The day before he went overboard on HMCS Winnipeg, sparking an extensive search in the waters west of San Francisco, Master Sailor Duane Earle told his best friend that he was looking forward to returning to Victoria to spend time with his two sons.
“He spoke very highly of his return home and spending time with his kids,” said Mike Foster, who has been friends with Earle for 43 years, since the two were in kindergarten in Winnipeg. “He lived for his kids. He loved his kids more than anything.”
That’s why news of the 47-year-old boatswain’s disappearance doesn’t make any sense to Foster.
“There’s a lot of unanswered questions and we need some real answers,” he said.
Shortly before he left in July for the 4 1/2-month deployment in the Asia-Pacific region, Earle had purchased a sailboat and planned to spend his retirement sailing the world, Foster said. The two joked that Earle would be the mariner and Foster would be the deck hand doing grunt work.
“You don’t buy something like that and not be able to set foot on it before you leave for your deployment without having every intention of coming home and using that vessel to plan your retirement,” Foster said.
Earle is believed to have gone overboard around 5 a.m. Pacific time Monday about 500 nautical miles west of San Francisco. His absence was not noticed for about seven and a half hours.
Earle was not found despite an extensive 30-hour search over 2,000 square miles.
Canadian Fleet Pacific Commander Angus Topshee told the Times Colonist on Wednesday that a detailed inquiry will investigate what happened to Earle. “At this time we still really cannot explain how he came to be in the water.”
Topshee said the upper decks are out of bounds at night as a safety measure.
Foster said he and Earle spoke almost every day, often by Facebook Messenger, even when Earle was on deployment.
Earle was well-respected on HMCS Winnipeg, Foster said, the kind of guy everyone would love as a bunk mate.
“Anybody who knows this guy knows he’s one of the happiest guys in the world,” Foster said. “If anybody was going to lighten up a dreary situation it’s him.”
Earle and his sons, age 7 and 10, loved Star Wars and cheered for the Winnipeg Jets. Earle would take the boys to Disneyland for vacation and at home they enjoyed playing video games together, Foster said.
Earle had a partner of a few years who is devastated by the loss, Foster said.
He also loved his bull terrier Riley, his friend said.
Earle began his career in the Canadian Armed Forces in June 1990 as a member of the naval reserves at HMCS Chippawa in Winnipeg.
He had been drawn to the water since childhood when his parents bought a sailboat, Foster said. He embraced water skiing, scuba diving, sailing, kite boarding and any water-related sport, his friend said. That obsession and a unique bleach blond haircut during his skateboarding days led Foster to nickname Earle “Squid.”
Two fellow mariners who previously sailed with Earle launched an online fundraiser for his family. By Thursday night it had raised more than $15,000.
HMCS Winnipeg will return to CFB Esquimalt on Friday afternoon. The 230-member crew was involved in Operation Neon, part of a multinational effort to enforce maritime sanctions against North Korea.
— With files from Jeff Bell