NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) – It took nearly a year for Pedro Furtado to put his rubber boots back on and step aboard a fishing boat.

The lone crew member to survive the sinking of the New Bedford scalloper Northern Edge, Furtado said he saw a psychiatrist for six months to come to grips with the events of Dec. 20, 2004.

“That helped me a lot,” he told The Standard-Times of New Bedford. “I was very traumatized about the whole thing.”

In an interview published Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the sinking, Furtado said he spent a year gathering himself but is now ready to go back to doing what he does best. He has been on three fishing trips in recent weeks. Only once, during a bout of bad weather on his most recent trip, did he experience fear.

The 75-foot Northern Edge sank off Nantucket in 8- to 10-foot seas and 30-degree weather, with winds gusting to 45 knots. Five of the six crew members died, making it the deadliest fishing accident off New England in nearly 15 years.

“It was only a few days before Christmas,” said fisherman Tony Alvernaz, whose boat pulled Furtado from the 40-degree ocean water about an hour after the sinking.

The anniversary has brought back bad memories for Alvernaz, who knew the Northern Edge’s captain, 48-year-old Carlos Lopes.

“The last past couple of days, I’ve thought about it,” he said. “Who wants to think those thoughts?”

Besides Lopes, crew members Juan Flores, 43; Eric Guillen, 25; Glen Crowley, 45, and Ray Richards, 38, were killed in the sinking.

Only the 23-year-old Furtado managed to survive, by kicking his boots off and clutching a life raft.

Furtado still shivers at the mention of the disaster. On Christmas, he plans to pray for his lost colleagues and has asked a local priest to dedicate the holiday Mass in their memory.

“God give them eternal rest,” he said. “I wish the families a happy holiday, and I ask them to never forget their loved ones.”