PORTLAND (AP) – A fisherman made sure his son and another young fisherman had their survival gear before going back inside his sinking ship to retrieve his own gear, officials said. That was the last anyone saw of Gary Thorbjornson.

An air and sea search continued Thursday for the 40-year-old fisherman, but people in his home town of Port Clyde feared he went down with his 50-foot fishing boat, the Serious, which capsized and sank in water 70 miles east of Portland.

“Gary went down saving the two boys,” said Thorbjornson’s mother-in-law, Rachel DesGrosseilliers, of Auburn. “He was going down to the cabin to get survival suits when the boat went down.”

Thorbjornson’s teenage son was left holding the door when his father went back inside to get survival gear as the fishing boat sank Wednesday evening.

Garrett Thorbjornson, 17, waited as long as he could before the boat went under, sending him and David Wilgus, 19, into the water, said Gerry Cushman of Port Clyde, who was aboard the fishing boat that later brought the pair to shore.

Once in the water, Thorbjornson and Wilgus shared a single survival suit – each put one arm and one leg into it and squeezed in – before getting into a life raft that shot to the surface from the sinking boat, Cushman said.

DesGrosseilliers said late Thursday afternoon that she had not heard any more about Gary Thorbjornson’s fate. In spite of the odds, his family was praying that he somehow survived the wreck.

“We’re still hoping against hope,” DesGrosseilliers said. “But we haven’t heard anything new.”

“They’ve got a few scrapes and bruises,” DesGrosseilliers said. “But they were thrown off the boat before it sank. I think Garrett is in a state of shock right now. He’s very quiet.”

In Port Clyde, news spread quickly and by Thursday afternoon many people feared the worst, said Betsy Sherrick from the Port Clyde General Store.

“This is a real tight community here, so we’re all hurting and trying to do the best we can,” said Wilgus’ father, Craig, from St. George.

At about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, the crew of the Serious used a cell phone to make a distress call to the Serious’ sister ship Irene Elta, which was 5 miles away.

The younger Thorbjornson and Wilgus fired flares from the raft to guide the Irene Elta crew, which came to their rescue, said Lisa Hennings, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Boston. The two were plucked from the life raft about an hour later, but there was no sign of Gary Thorbjornson.

Six fishing boats searched the area, and two Coast Guard cutters were deployed to join the search. Aircraft searched through the night and a Falcon jet crew was slated to resume the aerial search once weather conditions cleared.

There were 4-foot seas and unlimited visibility when the ship went down. But the water was cold enough – 57 degrees – to cause hypothermia without survival gear.

The younger Thorbjornson waited at the door for his father until the vessel was on the verge of sinking, Hennings said. The boat capsized soon after and the life raft popped to the surface, and the younger fishermen climbed inside, Craig Wilgus said.

The young fishermen, who were not harmed, were transported back to their homes early Thursday by lobstermen Tad Miller and Cushman, Craig Wilgus said.

There was no initial indication as to what went wrong. The Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office in Portland was investigating.

DesGrosseilliers said late Thursday afternoon that she had not heard any more about Gary Thorbjornson’s fate. In spite of the odds, his family was praying that he somehow survived the wreck.

“We’re still hoping against hope,” DesGrosseilliers said. “But we haven’t heard anything new.”