SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

The 38-foot Alisha Marie, based in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., went down about 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter to the scene after the vessel's emergency radio beacon signaled it was in distress, Petty Officer Crystal Kneen said. One man, Robert Cooper, was found on a life raft, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Cooper said he and William Brown Jr. and Joseph Bell, both of Newport News, Va., were thrown from the boat as it sank and then hit by a wave.

Martin "Red" Stillufsen, a lobsterman and owner of Red's Lobster Pot in Point Pleasant Beach, said the three scallopers probably wanted to take advantage of a brief period of good weather during the holiday season when prices are high.

"The stakes are high and those guys probably thought they could make some Christmas money", he said.

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