Smith Point Sea Rescue (SPSR) editor Dan Benjamin recently reported crews responded to the following early season calls for assistance in 2025.
February 7: At 10 a.m., SPSR received a call from a local boater that his 19-foot sailboat had been blown off his lift several days earlier. The vessel was swamped and on its side one-half mile from the boater’s pier in Mill Creek, off the Yeocomico. Rescue II and Skiff B responded with a crew of six. After locating the Flyng Scot sailboat, they were able to right it and then pumped out enough water to tow it to the owner’s pier for full dewatering and lift out. Total time on call: 2.0 hours.
February 23: At 10:45 a.m., USCG Sector Virginia called SPSR to report a 38-foot sailboat was taking on water in the Bay, off Windmill Point. Rescue III with a crew of four was on its way to a week of training with the USCG in Hampton Roads, but it diverted with dewatering pumps and tow lines at the ready. Sea Rescue located the sailboat and established the flooding was under control and that a local tow was on the way to assist. Rescue III waited until the tow arrived and then resumed its trip south to Hampton Roads. Total time on call: 1.0 hrs.
February 23-28: Rescue III and a crew of four captains engaged in six days of search and rescue and mass casualty training with the USCG and the Port of Norfolk in Hampton. More than 40 boats and 200 police and fire first responders attended. Most of the crews were from the Norfolk and Hampton Roads area, but others came from as far away as South Carolina and Florida. Daytime classroom training was complemented by daytime and nighttime on-the-water exercises. The week culminated in a simulated mass casualty aircraft crash in the Chesapeake Bay. As an all-volunteer unit, Smith Point Sea Rescue’s attendance was supported by the Port of Norfolk. This is the second year SPSR has participated in this dynamic training program, which strongly complements the regular weekly training that Sea Rescue crews undertake while on duty. Total time: six days.
April 10: At 9:30 a.m., SPSR received a call that a catamaran needed assistance on Ball’s Creek, off the Great Wicomico. Rescue III with a crew of four responded from Reedville, located the single-handed sailboat and towed it to Tiffany Yachts at Glebe Point for repairs. Total time on call: 1.5 hours.
April 12: At 9:40 a.m. the Northumberland County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) called SPSR to report that a small boat was sinking pier side at Smith Point Marina. SPSR responded to the marina with a crew of five and dewatering pumps, arriving to find a partially submerged 20-foot crab boat. The vessel was stabilized and fully pumped out. Boaters are reminded that whenever there are heavy rains there is a chance of bilge pump failures. When the result is a pier side sinking, the damage to the vessel can be catastrophic. Total time on call: 2.0 hours.
April 29: At 4 p.m., the NCSO notified SPSR that a 30-foot sailboat with three aboard was aground near the Coan River Marina. Rescue II dispatched from Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina with a crew of four and headed down the Potomac in winds gusting to 25 knots. The crew found the sailboat hard aground on a rapidly falling tide. The vessel’s rudder and prop were ensnared in what was believed to be a crab pot line and the vessel was located in an extremely shallow oyster ground. SPSR got a line to the sailboat, and after more than 40 minutes of delicate maneuvering and hard pulling, refloated the boat and extricated it from the oyster grounds. Rescue II then towed it to the Coan River Marina, where another SPSR crew, who had gone by land to the marina, helped moor the sailboat in its slip. Total time on call: 2.75 hrs.
May 10: At 1 p.m., Smith Point Sea Rescue received a call from NCSO that a small sailboat required assistance in Cockrell Creek. SPSR responded initially with the shoal draft Skiff A, due to possible shallow water conditions. Skiff A located a 30-foot sailboat with engine failure and towed it to Buzzards Point Marina for repairs. Total time on call: 1.5 hours.
May 14: At 8 a.m., SPSR responded to a request for assistance from a 50-foot sailboat with major engine problems, which needed to go to Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina. Rescue III departed from Reedville with a crew of five, located the vessel and took it in tow. Reaching the bay, the SPSR crew encountered thick fog and heavy recreational boat traffic. Once clear of traffic in the Potomac River and as prearranged, Rescue III passed control of the tow to Rescue II, which continued in the fog up the Potomac and delivered the sailboat to Olverson’s for repairs. Two rescue vessels and eight crew responded. Time on call: 6 hours.
Smith Point Sea Rescue is a volunteer rescue unit that serves boaters on the Potomac River from Coles Point to Smith Point, south to the Rappahannock River and across the Chesapeake Bay to Smith and Tangier islands. The organization receives no regular governmental monetary support, depending solely on donations.
Smith Point Sea Rescue does not charge for its services and can be reached on VHF channel 16 or by calling 911. Rescue I, Rescue III and Rescue Skiff A are based in Reedville, with Rescue II and Rescue Skiff B on Lodge Creek near Callao.
