Dramatic rescue made of stranded boater

It was a pretty dramatic rescue of a man having medical issues on a boat in Apalachicola Bay Oct. 7, but thanks to the work of law enforcement people, it ended well.

At nearly 7 p.m. ET, the Tallahassee Regional Communications Center received a call referencing that Thomas Bush, an 81-year-old man from Clearwater, had run his boat aground and needed assistance to be taken off the boat.

The problem was Bush could not provide a location and said his electronics were not working. 

Lt. Steven Cook, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision, had Officers Derek Sizemore and Mitchell Fernbach head to Carrabelle to launch a vessel. An effort was made to Bush’s cell phone company, which said the phone last pinged on the Eastpoint cell tower, which provided a large location that included St. George

Sound and portions of the Gulf of Mexico. 

“We also had the subject activate his emergency function on his Marine VHF radio and the Coast Guard was also able to provide a similar location as the cell phone provider,” said Cook in his report.

Fernbach and Sizemore began their search for the location, with help from air assets from both the Coast Guard and Air One in Leon County, which was able to spot the vessel on the outside of St. George Island next to the Dr. Julian BBruce SGI State Park.

“Officers responded by boat but due to the sea conditions and shallow water were unable to reach the vessel,” Cook wrote. 

Franklin County Officer Landon Nash and Col. Dewayne Coulter launched two UTVs in the park and they, and the FWC team went to the boat by land. Nash and Cook waded to Bush and helped him into the water and back to shore. 

“They were in stomach and chest deep water,” said Coulter.

An ambulance from Weems Memorial responded and transported him to Weems and then on to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he has been recovering. The entire operation was concluded after midnight.

After that, TowBoat U.S. pumped out all the fuel and oil on the vessel, and worked to free the Nordic Tug 42 from the beach. After several days, they used larger machinery to free the vessel during low tide.

Coulter said law enforcement believes he may have been initially stuck on the second sandbar off Dog Island, and then was pushed towards the east end of the park, about 1.5 miles from Sandy Hill Beach and three miles from the tip of the island.

“It’s always good to have someone else on board,” advised Coulter.