Derby Fishermen Rescue Three Men After Boat Sinks

The Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby took a dramatic turn Tuesday afternoon when three derby fishermen rescued another three men from rough water off the coast of Aquinnah. According to the Vineyard Gazette, “Caleb D. Nicholson, 37, of Oak Bluffs was out fishing with two friends when they spotted three men clinging to a cooler in chilly, rough seas.”

The men were found about three miles northwest of the Gay Head cliffs reported the Gazette and all were suffering from exposure. The men, believed to be from New Bedford, are thought to have been aboard a 20-foot fiberglass boat that sank. Nicholson and his mate John Maher as well as Neal Farrell headed out to an area where they thought boats had been chumming and saw the men, who were not wearing life jackets, hanging on for their lives.

The crew brought the men aboard and gave them warm clothes. “Once all were aboard, Mr. Nicholson said he alerted the Coast Guard on the marine distress channel 16,” reported the Gazette. They then brought the men to the Menemsha gas dock where they were met by two ambulances, Chilmark police and the Coast Guard.