TowBoatUS Captains Receive Awards

Seven TowBoatUS captains who acted as good Samaritans to save lives in 2019 were honored by their peers at a ceremony held at the annual BoatUS Towing Conference in Orlando, Florida, on January 23.

The captains serve TowBoatUS on-water towing locations in Jacksonville, Florida; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Racine, Wisconsin; Lake Allatoona, Georgia; Block Island, Rhode Island; St. Joseph, Michigan; San Francisco, California; and Ventura, California.

Woody Pollack Lifesaving Award

• Capt. Scott Stebleton, TowBoatUS Jacksonville, Florida: rescued two boys from an overturned 14-foot boat.

Meritorious Service Awards

• Capt. Nick Triplett, TowBoatUS Grand Strand, South Carolina: helped first responders locate and bring to shore a man left unconscious after a PWC accident.
• Capt. Fred Stritt, TowBoatUS Racine, Wisconsin: raced a man having a heart attack to shore, ensuring prompt medical attention and, ultimately, full recovery.
• Capt. Chris Day, TowBoatUS Lake Allatoona, Georgia:  helped his neighbors locate and retrieve property from floodwaters and safely removed a woman from a flooded, disabled 4×4 vehicle.
• Capt. Robert DiSanto, TowBoatUS Block Island, Rhode Island: raced to the scene of a double carbon monoxide poisoning, then safely put the subject vessel into a hip tow, returning the injured to port to await medical assistance.
• Capt. Mike Shine, TowBoatUS St. Joseph, Michigan: using high-resolution sonar, located a drowning victim who had fallen off a local marina dock and never resurfaced.
• Capt. Kevin Conrad, TowBoatUS San Francisco, California: found a lost PWC rider.
• Capt. Paul Amaral, TowBoatUS Ventura, California: raced to the scene of a fire on a 75-foot dive boat, tossed a grappling hook over her bow, putting the vessel in tow to allow firefighters critical access, then assisted with search and recovery.