Dave Portnoy had to be rescued by the US Coast Guard on Monday after he and his boat were “nearly lost” at sea.
“You guys almost lost Captain Dave today. Captain Dave almost got lost in the ocean, mother ocean,” the 47-year-old Barstool Sports founder revealed in a video shared via X.
Portnoy went on to explain that he was planning to take his mother, Linda, on a boat ride around Nantucket, as she was in town visiting him at his home in Massachusetts.
However, when Portnoy unhooked the 28-foot vessel from the dock and buoys, he realized he had made a “critical error” as the boat “had no power, no radio, no anchor, no nothing” amid “very, very strong winds.”
“The next thing I knew, Captain Dave was lost at sea,” he recalled. “(The ship) was just moving and I was trying not to crash into the boats in the harbor.”
Portnoy said he began screaming for help and also used a flare gun to send out a stress signal. Fortunately, a woman in a “rowboat” spotted him and approached him to help.
“She came aboard Captain Dave’s boat and said, ‘Can I do a TikTok of you, Captain Dave?’ I said, ‘I don’t have time for TikToks.’ She said, ‘Well, I don’t have my phone with me anyway,’” he recalled. “(But) her radio works (and) she called the Coast Guard.”
Portnoy said four “burly guys” from the U.S. Coast Guard arrived shortly after the call was made.
“Captain Dave is out at sea, back and forth, rocking, thinking my life is over. Captain Dave must be halfway to the Caribbean, rocking, no power, no boat,” he shared.
“Thankfully, the Coast Guard, God bless them, tied me up and brought me back to my (dock). Dave lives to tell another story.”
Portnoy admitted the ordeal definitely took its toll on him, but he is grateful to the U.S. Coast Guard for “saving” his life.
He called sailing “a dangerous game” and told fans he “may never get on a boat again” after the stressful incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Northeast X account later reposted his video, adding: “You’re welcome, Dave. Tell (your dog) Miss Peaches we said hi and remember to boat safely. #SemperParatus.”
As previously reported, the internet personality spent her summers in the idyllic resort town for years before purchasing a massive $42 million mansion last year.
The incident marked the second time this summer that Portnoy has had a scare, as he recently revealed he had a mole removed from his neck after discovering he had skin cancer.
“It was a mole. I started to get worried, so I went to the doctor, they did a skin scraping and one of them turned out to be cancerous, so I was like, ‘Boo, I have to get it out,’” she said last month during an episode of her podcast.
