In testimony to judge, Nathan Carman says he called out to his mother as the Chicken Pox was sinking

Nathan Carman, facing direct questioning on Friday from the federal judge who will rule on a civil lawsuit filed against him, repeated how he searched continually for his mother as his boat sank, but said he viewed her as “kind of part of the problem” as the Chicken Pox ran into trouble.

“I know when I got into the life raft I was yelling out: 'Mom, mom, mom,’ making sure to pause, if she was yelling out, I’d be able to hear her," Carman said in a response to a direct question on the search from Judge John J. McConnell Jr. “I was standing on the raft trying to see her on the surface ... there was swell but I do think I would be able to see her.”

Two insurance companies are suing Carman over the $85,000 claim for the Chicken Pox. Carman, in his testimony in federal court in Providence, has stuck to his story that he did as much as he could as the Chicken Pox sank and his mother disappeared during an ill-fated fishing trip off Long Island in September of 2016.

The insurance companies have denied Carman’s claim, arguing that Carman, a Vermont resident who grew up in Connecticut, sank the boat to get family money or because he made foolish and reckless repairs.

The testimony was given during the last day of the trial that McConnell has kept strictly focused and constrained to 15 hours of testimony each from the plaintiffs and the defense.

While aboard the life raft, Carman told the judge, he remained standing, looking for his mother, spotting debris, coolers and oil slicks. He continued to look for his mother even as the items went out of site.

Carman said he thought maybe his mother hit her head or was dragged under the water by equipment. McConnell asked if he dove down to look for her, but Carman said no, believing his perch aboard the life raft would give him the best view.

McConnell asked Carman if he yelled to his mother to prepare her for danger as the boat began to fill with water.

Carman said he did in so far as he asked her to reel in the lines that could tangle in the propeller. “I thought of my mom more like a passenger in the sense that she was kind of part of the problem rather than the solution,” Carman told McConnell.

On Thursday, Carman faced rigorous questioning by David Farrell, a lawyer for the insurance companies, National Liability & Fire Insurance and the Boat Owners Association of the United States.

Farrell asked questions about the last moments aboard the boat and what appeared to be little interaction between Carman and his mother.

“Is the reason you didn’t say anything to your mother ... is that because she couldn’t talk or because she couldn’t hear you?” Farrell asked. “Was your mother even on board at the time?”

Carman replied: “I’ve told you, yes, she’s on board, I asked her to reel in the lines.”

McConnell’s questions followed a similar line Friday as Carman faced cross examination by his attorney, David Anderson.

In a rushed recounting of his trip for Anderson, Carman said after he was in the life raft for a day, he focused on his health so he could best provide information to rescuers. He wrote on a survival bag that that he and his mother had sank near Block Canyon and the date.

Linda Carman has not been seen since she left with her son aboard the boat on Sept. 17, 2016 on a midnight fishing trip out of Ram Point Marina in Wakefield, R.I. Their trip ended when the Chicken Pox sank in an area off Long Island known as Block Canyon. Nathan Carman was rescued by a passing freighter days later.

The pair had agreed while leaving the marina to go fishing in Block Canyon, an area that Carman said he was planning on fishing alone later in the week.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong. I wanted her to go to the canyons with me. I know if I asked her, she would go,” Carman said.

McConnell has prohibited questions about another controversy involving Nathan Carman -- the murder of his grandfather, John Chakalos, in 2013. Carman remains a person of interest in Chakalos’ murder by investigators in Windsor, but was never charged.

Three of Linda Carman’s sisters have said Nathan Carman scuttled the boat in a plot to kill his mother, and murdered his grandfather, in a plan to get a $7 million inheritance.

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