Maryland men rescue fishermen from sharks, high seas
Published: November 12, 2005
Two Maryland boaters rescued a 49-year-old Florida man whose boat capsized in rough seas about eight miles off Boca Raton, Fla.
Rogers Washington said he had been treading water for six hours Tuesday. During that time, he watched his friend succumb to an apparent heart attack, he was approached by a shark, and two other boaters waved at him but refused to pick him up, apparently thinking he was an illegal immigrant from Haiti.
When David Pensky of Annapolis approached Washington after spotting him frantically waving his arms in seven-foot seas, Washington shouted “I’m an American! I’m an American!” - afraid he would be left behind a third time.
“It would have been very easy not to have seen him,” Pensky, 61, told The (Annapolis) Capital. “At first, I wasn’t sure if he was a diver trying to make sure I didn’t hit him.”
Moments later, though, Pensky and Richard Holden, 63, of St. Mary’s County, noticed the waterlogged fisherman, orange whistle to his lips, floating with the aid of a cooler lid and a small life vest shoved under his arm.
“They are the best men in the world,” the Florida man told The Capital Friday. “They are God’s children.”
Washington said he capsized while on a fishing trip with Robert Lewis Moore, 62, of Tamarac, Fla., after two large waves hit his 22-foot boat. The boat went down quickly, leaving the men clutching a cooler top and life vests.
Moore probably had a heart attack and died when a shark began circling them, Washington said. He tried resuscitating Moore, but it didn’t work. He held onto his friend for about 45 minutes.
“I had to let him go so I could try to survive,” he said.
Washington floated alone in the choppy seas for about five more hours, the coastline visible in the distance. A hammerhead shark came within 5 feet of him. Two boats, a charter and a sailboat, passed within a couple hundred feet. No one on those boats offered to help.
“They waved at me. I know they saw me,” Washington said.
Washington, who is black, believes the other boaters thought he was an illegal immigrant from Haiti.
A Coast Guard helicopter and boat searched Tuesday for Moore. His body was found Thursday by another fisherman near the spot where Washington was rescued, said Dani Moschella, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation.
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