MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Good Samaritans raced to the rescue of a man who spent hours stranded at sea off Miami Beach after his boat flipped over.
Cellphone video captured the moment when Captains Bronson Stubbs and Michael Rivero from Biscayne Bay Pilots spotted the victim, Wednesday morning.
“How you doin’, buddy? Woooo! That’s a lucky day there,” one of the captains is heard saying.
It was a lucky morning for this boater, after a very rough go overnight.
“There’s your raft,” one of the captains is heard saying as they threw a flotation device to the man who was stranded in the Atlantic, miles away from shore, for hours.
“He had gone out last night. I think his boat sank about 2 o’clock in the morning, he said,” said Stubbs. “We found him at 8:30, so I guess he’d been in the water six and a half hours.”
Thankfully, Stubbs and Rivero were out on the water.
“Come swim over here, man. We’ll get you up the stern,” one of the captains is heard telling the victim.
Stubbs said they were out doing their job.
“To navigate to ships in and out safely, dock the ships and make sure the commerce keeps flowing safely — cruise ships, container ships,” said Stubbs.
The captains were guiding a foreign ship into PortMiami when they received a distress call from someone aboard that big vessel, because of a man spotted miles out in the Atlantic, separated from his sinking boat.
“They had a man overboard. They see someone in the water,” said Stubbs.
“His boat was about half a mile from where he was. The boat was just still barely floating,” said Rivero.
“He was hanging onto something. We don’t know exactly what it was,” said Stubbs.
But thanks to these good Samaritans and their life preserver, this stranded boater was pulled to safety and onto their Pilot boat.
The boater had been alone fishing, late Tuesday night, before his boat overturned.
“He said, ‘No, I’m the only one. My boat capsized,'” said Rivero. “He was super nervous. He couldn’t talk; he just looked like he was very stressed out.”
Fortunately, the boater was not injured.
“Very lucky,” said Stubbs.
This was a rare day for these captains, but not quite as rare as one might think. Stubbs and Rivero said they see a lot out on these waters, and every now and again, they have to put their lifesaving hat on.
“Yeah, we do a lot of search and rescue, just natural stuff from being on the water all the time,” said Stubbs. “You know, you develop those skills.”
“We’re always ready,” said Rivero.
And, once their impromptu boating partner was dry and safe, he was all smiles with his heroes.
“He was in the right place at the right time,” said Rivero.
Stubbs and Rivero said their most common external problem concerns boaters who go too fast and make a wake near the port. They hope boaters can slow that activity down and behave themselves while on the water.
The stranded boater refused first aid after his rough night and lucky morning.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.