Posted: 11 July 2002 at 6:05pm | IP Logged

Funeral Arrangements:
Viewing - Sunday, July 14, 6 - 9pm - Doherty Funeral Home, 3200 Limestone Road, Wilmington
Funeral - Monday, July 15, 10am - St. John the Beloved Church, Milltown Road, Wilmington. Burial following mass at All Saints Cemetery

"Funds for Capt. Billy's Kids"
Donations can be taken at any Wilmington Trust Bank for Billy Verbanas's 6 children

Captain Billy Verbanas, a world record holder and expert Shark fisherman was killed while attempting to wire a 500# Mako shark.
I have been sick to my stomach ever since hearing of this terrible news. My sincere condolences to his family, friends and crew!
As an update to this tragic episode it was reported earlier this morning on WGMD radio that Capt Billy died as a result of drowning and they had an interview with one of the chartered fares. The charter was for a party of Pennsylvania Amish. As the charter departed on that fateful day, the group was very impressed with Capt. Billy. He took the time to prepare fresh tuna platters for everyone on board. A short way out they were into bluefish, boating between 30-40 blues before heading further out to sea. Then they picked up a 60# tuna and several dolphins before finally arriving to the Canyons for the overnighter. Once there they subdued a 200# Blue Shark. By 11:00pm they had this monster Mako on the line. It made 2 runs at the boat and even slammed into the hull on the second run. Capt. Billy was very experienced with this type of animal. He doesn't hold several world records for no reason! The winds were increasing and seas building to 8 ft. Capt. Billy decided that they had to get out of there soon. He began to take in the wire while holding a gun in the other hand to subdue the beast. He had just finished explaining to the group that "You have to be very careful with sharks this size, they can pull you over in a heartbeat"! No sooner had he expressed this idea that the tragedy occurred. He surfaced away from the vessel and signaled to Capt. Chris to come about. As the Reelistic approached the group attempted to heave a life ring and line with no success in heavy seas. One member quickly emptied his pockets and dove in the water( despite one pissed off Mako) to rescue Capt. Billy. By the time that Mike had reached him, Billy was face down. They got him aboard and proceded to perform CPR while awaiting a Coast Guard helicopter. The first rescue group arrived and attempted to lower a guardsman but he was slammed into the superstructure of the Reelistic and suffered a broken collar bone and rib. That mission was aborted and a second helicopter arrived to perform the extraction. The second attempt was rough also but they managed to get him aboard successfully. I understand that they performed CPR for over 2 hours to no avail. I suppose that the only good to come of this sad story is that Capt. Billy's kindness and expertise will always be known in the hearts of the people he touched. May he always be remembered for his kindness and dwell with the Lord in calm seas! With the expertise of Capt. Billy, I think that ST. Peter is out of a fishing job.

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