From - Capt. Chris Randel - Indian Sport Fishing

Farewell to a very good friend and veteran sport boat operator Robert C. Harris known to everyone as Butch.

On Aug. 12, 2009, Capt. Harris passed away in a very unfortunte accident that occured dockside in Cartagena, Columbia, when he was boarding the barge that they were hired to tow with the U.S.-flagged vessel IW Haile.

Apparently Butch slipped on the ramp, hit his chest and fell into the water and drowned. We are all mourning this terrible loss as Butch has contributed so much to the San Diego sportfishing community and touched the lives of so many people for so many years.

He began his fishing career in 1985 with the purchase of Sea Spray and worked that vesel for a couple of years then spent the rest of the '80s working a shrimp boat in Florida with his father. He returned to San Diego in 1992 to run Cherokee Geisha out of H&M landing until Spring of 2004 when he switched to commercial tow work that took him around the world to interesting places like North Africa and the Suez Canal.

A celebration of his life will be held on Sunday, Nov. 1 from noon untill 4 p.m. aboard the vessels Indian and Black Pearl.

Dinghy Digest ®