Investigations into the deaths of two brothers who perished after their wooden boat crashed upon the breakers near St David’s continued yesterday.Mikel (Michael) Williams, 58, and Mustafa Abdul-Hadee, 59, were both found floating among debris by several boats responding to a call for help early on Tuesday morning, leaving family and friends with more questions than answers.Scott Simmons, the Acting Director of the Department of Marine and Ports, said it was too soon to rush to judgement as to what happened that night.“From our side I can say that we are all quite stunned by the outcome in this case,” he said. “I can only reiterate on behalf of the Department and the Water Safety Council that any of us who venture offshore need to always be ready for whatever the sea throws our way, particularly in winter time when temperatures are cooler and weather conditions can change rapidly.”He called for Bermuda’s boating public to contact the Ministry or view their website for marine safety information, and to be cautious when on the water.“The biggest mistake that can be made is to consider this some isolated, one-off incident,” he said. “All of us venturing offshore need to be prepared to survive and we should not be complacent about our routines.“We owe that much to the memory of these two men, their families and friends at this difficult time.”Moving forward, he said that the Bermuda Police Force is continuing its investigation, with the Ministry providing any assistance that is requested. Once that investigation is complete the Ministry will look to closing any weaknesses in the local safety regime.Bermuda Maritime Operations said that at around midnight on Monday they received a call from the Williams brothers saying their boat Tern had struck reefs near St David’s Head and was taking on water.The pilot boat St David responded, along with civilian boats including the 34 Fathoms, but by the time the brothers were found they were already dead.A family friend said yesterday: “If one of the brothers had survived the accident, he would have struggled to move on with his life.“They were like ‘peas in a pod.’ You could say, although they lived a short life, their lives went full circle. They were born on St David’s Island and their lives ended in St David’s waters.”The friend said Mustafa was taught to always look after his younger brother when they were young, and growing up the two were seldom apart.She also recalled an incident more than 35 years ago when Mustafa and a friend, known as ‘Pot Washer,’ disappeared for three days on a fishing trip“Nothing deterred Mustafa’s love of fishing, boating, and the sea,” she said.“When Mustafa and ‘Pot Washer’ were brought ashore they were met by his mother and stepfather. His mother told him if she had a hatchet she would chop the boat in half. The prayers of a mother were answered, her son was found.“In the ‘spiritual realm’ of things, there are some of us that would perhaps say their mother visited them on the day of their boat accident. And, she told them to come to where she was come home.”Captain Eugene Dublin of the 34 Fathoms yesterday described the events of that evening, saying he was out fishing when he received the call from Harbour Radio to help.“They came on the radio saying that someone had landed on the breakers and if I could go assist,” he said.“I was about 30, 35 minutes out, so by the time I got there the pilot boat was already there.”He said the scene of the wreck was extremely dark, but he could see debris from the collision floating in the water near the breakers. At the direction of the pilot boat, he used his boat’s spotlight to search for the lost men.“I thought we would find someone swimming. That’s what I expected,” he said.“The pilot boat had found one body. A smaller boat found the other.”Mr Dublin said he only learned after the fact that the men he came to assist were the Williams brothers, who he knew as carpenters and fishermen.While he said in his years on the water he has worked his way through harsh weather, and known fishermen who have died at sea, but was still surprised by what happened.