Capt. Joe Hall had 35 customers aboard his Sailors Choice charter fishing boat on New Year’s Day. The seas were relatively calm and the group was headed out to French Reef, about 7 miles off Key Largo, for an afternoon of fishing. That’s when the seasoned captain spotted something that didn’t look right.
“We were just getting ready to anchor up and I looked off to the port side and I saw a vessel that was kind of sitting a little sideways and it was listing a little,” recalled Hall.
Hall decided to hold off on dropping the anchor.
“I watched the vessel for a little bit and sure enough, everybody ran to the bow of the vessel and just like that it started sinking,” said Hall, who immediately throttled toward the capsizing boat about a quarter-mile away.
“It went down backwards and it rolled and that’s when the people went in the water,” Hall said.
As Hall raced to the boaters in distress, Sailors Choice first mate Andrew Bastian prepared to rescue the three people. A man, woman and their 7-year-old son had been thrown into the water that was roughly 70 feet deep. The child was wearing a life jacket.
Bastian immediately started a man-overboard protocol, instructing customers to not lose sight of the three people as the Sailors Choice rushed to their rescue.
“We had a gentleman who was a firefighter from Detroit, so I gave him the ring so he could throw the ring at the person,” said Bastian of a customer aboard the fishing charter that afternoon. Several of the customers helped with the rescue.
“Everybody helped out. It made it very easy; everybody was listening and helping out,” added Bastian.
As the Sailors Choice got closer to the family, they could see the three people clinging to the side of the boat that was going down fast. The family then grabbed onto a floating cooler; by this point, only a little bit of the bow of their boat was visible.
Cell phone video shot by customers shows the harrowing rescue as it unfolded.
“There was a young kid in the water so we got him on the ring first. We threw some life jackets. We got the ladder down. I climbed down the ladder. We grabbed the kid. We lifted him into the boat and then the mother and then the father,” said Hall.
“We’re still a little shaken up, but we’re fine,” said the Miami man, who along with his wife and son were rescued.
He did not want his name used in this article but did want to thank Hall, his crew and customers for saving his family on New Year’s Day.
“It just so happens we were fishing the same reef where he was taking his clients and luckily, as soon we flipped over they headed towards us and they were just absolutely great,” recalled the owner of the 21-foot Sea Craft that capsized.
It’s still unclear what caused the boat to go under. The owner had taken it out a few days prior with no problems. He said the boat always rides a bit low because of water in the bait well.
“I’m used to a little bit of water but this isn’t normal. I tried to turn on the boat and it wouldn’t turn on. One thing led to another. It happened so fast,” he said.
The boat was recovered by TowBoatUS and towed back to Garden Cove Marina. It was there where it was discovered the seal on the plug was loose, but the boat owner still does not know exactly what caused his boat to capsize and sink so quickly.
“We just don’t know,” said the boat owner. “We’re waiting for the Coast Guard’s assessment; it will take like 30 days.”
What this boat owner does know for sure is the crew and customers of the Sailors Choice saved him, his wife and young son. If they hadn’t been there, this New Year’s Day story of survival could have easily been a tragedy.
“They took us in; they were great, they’re a great bunch of guys over there,” he said of the Sailors Choice crew and customers. “They even gave a rod to my kid so he could go fish with them. They were great,” he added.
Hall and his wife Devi have owned the Sailors Choice since 2003. This wasn’t Hall’s first rescue at sea. He’s just glad he was in the right place at the right time.
“They were pulled out of the water probably within five minutes of it going down,” Hall said.
“They were just happy, they were very grateful. They were just really relieved,” he said of the rescued family.
