Twillingate is mourning the loss of two fishermen, one of them a well-known advocate of the province's sealing industry.

Gary Troake, 40, and Roger Blake, 32, set out Sunday morning to check their nets, but they never returned. People say the weather was a bit sloppy, but nothing to be concerned about. Fishermen have been known to haul gear in much worse conditions.

The father of one of the victims, Jack Troake, went looking for his son, when they didn't return. He found their boat capsized, just off shore.

"I saw the condition of the boat and the condition of the sea. I knew there was a slim chance neither one of the boys survived."

Neither man was wearing a life-jacket. Jack Troake said he tried to convince his son to wear one in the past.

The deaths have hit the town hard. Lighthouse keeper, Gord Jones, was a friend of Gary Troake, who once headed up the province's sealers' association.

"I'm going up to the funeral home to pay my last respects, to say goodbye. That's going to be a battle, but I guess we got to do it."

Jack Troake says the tragedy is something fishing communities have to live with.

"It's something you don't think about, but it's not always going to be someone else. We'll survive. That's the reason we've survived for 500 years on this bald rock of ours."