An East Boothbay fishermen survived nearly an hour in the 54-degree Damariscotta River after getting caught in ropes and falling overboard Sunday morning, Oct. 26.
Mike Lewis apparently became pinned in the ropes while lobstering in a boat called Victoria’s Secret.
Jody Durgan, a fellow fisherman, was headed downriver in the Phyllis II when he heard lobsterman Brian McFarland call out.
“He hollered to me that nobody’s aboard Mike’s boat and it’s doing circles,” Durgan said Wednesday. “I went and grabbed [McFarland’s] sternman and circled Mike’s boat until I got up next to it, and the [sternman] jumped in Mike’s boat to stop it.”
Durgan estimated the Victoria’s Secret was traveling about 6 miles per hour, making a 100-foot circle.
Then, Durgan said, lobstermen from a handful of boats “dropped everything” and began to search for Lewis.
Durgan also called the U.S. Coast Guard, and a cutter arrived from the Boothbay Harbor station just after noon, according to Chief Petty Officer Adam Smart.
“We were looking but there was no sign of him,” Durgan said. “Then Mark saw him on the other shore. He got him and took him back to his own boat.”
Lewis apparently got caught in the ropes, which were “pulling pretty hard” on his leg, and “he took the option of going overboard to try to get the rope undone,” Durgan said.
When rescued, Lewis was slurring his words, and Durgan suspected he was hypothermic. But Lewis insisted on steering his own boat – full of lobsters – back to the dock, where he warmed up in the Coast Guard cutter. He was evaluated by emergency medical personnel, but refused to be taken to the hospital, Smart said.
“I was kind of worried that he wasn’t going to make it, but he’s tough,” Durgan said. “I was surprised he stayed conscious in the water. The Damariscotta River is cold in the summertime, so I don’t know how much longer he would have lasted.”
