Tad MacGowan had a lot to be thankful for Thanksgiving weekend. Just days earlier he was rescued from the South River after his 14-foot sailboat capsized in 54-degree water under strong winds and large waves. After celebrating the holiday with his large family, MacGowan, a 64-year old Annapolis resident, reunited Thanksgiving weekend with Andrew Clothier, captain of Chumbucket, the sportfishing boat that rescued him.
“Meeting Clothier on Thanksgiving weekend was very cool,” recalls MacGowan. “One of the lessons from this is that people really do look out for each other and help one another on the water. I am very grateful and wanted to show my appreciation to Clothier, the Chumbucket crew, and the owner of the house where they took me for a hot shower and dry clothes. They are all such great people.”
“You hear a lot about the rivalry between powerboaters and sailors, but this incident was definitely a nice ‘peace offering’” says Clothier, who didn’t have much of a chance to talk to MacGowan the day they picked him up. “While the guys on my boat, Billy Hall, Billy Vance, Tim Flaherty, and BJ Lake, bundled him up and assessed him, I was busy driving home and calling in the rescue on the radio. And I didn’t finish putting the boat away until he was heading home.”
Clothier, a former member of the board of directors for the Chesapeake Bay Powerboat Association, believes his prior experience pulling people out of the water made a difference. “As a volunteer for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim for several years, I had prior experience picking up swimmers, and I learned to always have a throwable floatation device ready to go with a rope tied to it. I sit on it like a booster seat. Under those conditions, having that throwable ready was a game changer.”
MacGowan, who had abandoned his boat to swim to shore, agreed that a whistle on his PFD and a wet or dry suit would have helped, but he says, “Mostly I was too cavalier about the weather.”
Reflecting on the role of weather, Clothier says, “It’s important to always be aware of the warning signs for changing weather and head to safe harbor as soon as you notice them. Don’t drag things out. Every minute we took to put our rods away made a difference.”
For video of the rescue and more on the story, click to proptalk.com/fishermen-rescue-capsized-sailor.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 - 08:45
Tad MacGowan had a lot to be thankful for Thanksgiving weekend. Just days earlier he was rescued from the South River after his 14-foot sailboat capsized in 54-degree water under strong winds and large waves. After celebrating the holiday with his large family, MacGowan, a 64-year old Annapolis resident, reunited Thanksgiving weekend with Andrew Clothier, captain of Chumbucket, the sportfishing boat that rescued him.
“Meeting Clothier on Thanksgiving weekend was very cool,” recalls MacGowan. “One of the lessons from this is that people really do look out for each other and help one another on the water. I am very grateful and wanted to show my appreciation to Clothier, the Chumbucket crew, and the owner of the house where they took me for a hot shower and dry clothes. They are all such great people.”
“You hear a lot about the rivalry between powerboaters and sailors, but this incident was definitely a nice ‘peace offering’” says Clothier, who didn’t have much of a chance to talk to MacGowan the day they picked him up. “While the guys on my boat, Billy Hall, Billy Vance, Tim Flaherty, and BJ Lake, bundled him up and assessed him, I was busy driving home and calling in the rescue on the radio. And I didn’t finish putting the boat away until he was heading home.”
Clothier, a former member of the board of directors for the Chesapeake Bay Powerboat Association, believes his prior experience pulling people out of the water made a difference. “As a volunteer for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim for several years, I had prior experience picking up swimmers, and I learned to always have a throwable floatation device ready to go with a rope tied to it. I sit on it like a booster seat. Under those conditions, having that throwable ready was a game changer.”
MacGowan, who had abandoned his boat to swim to shore, agreed that a whistle on his PFD and a wet or dry suit would have helped, but he says, “Mostly I was too cavalier about the weather.”
Reflecting on the role of weather, Clothier says, “It’s important to always be aware of the warning signs for changing weather and head to safe harbor as soon as you notice them. Don’t drag things out. Every minute we took to put our rods away made a difference.”
For video of the rescue and more on the story, click to proptalk.com/fishermen-rescue-capsized-sailor.