ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WKRG) — Just in time, “Right as we backed up to them and started to get to them, the boat capsized, and they all ended up in the water.” A fishing trip charter boat Captain Tony Bearden won’t soon forget. “We made ourselves 15 to 17 miles offshore when we heard a mayday call over the radio.”
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It was dark, five-foot seas, and the Annie Girl charter boat was about five miles away, but without hesitation, Bearden turned the 62-foot boat around and answered the call. “You could definitely hear in these guys’ voices that they were really shook up at what was going on,” recalled Bearden.
All of that drama happened about 20 miles offshore of Orange Beach. Four friends from Georgia launched their 26-foot Cobia with a center console from Cotton Bayou hours earlier. Now, with the engine dead, it was taking on water. The Annie Girl was the closest boat that could help.
“He called me, and I was worried,” said former owner of the Annie Girl, Mike Rowell. “It was rough, and it was dark, and I was afraid people were going to be in the water by the time he got to them, but thank God the boat was still afloat when he got there.”
But not for long, “within 30 minutes of the distress call, these guys were in the water,” said Bearden.
All four men were rescued uninjured except for a minor cut. “I was really thankful that I got there when I did because trying to find those guys in the middle of the night, it’s a needle in a haystack,” said Bearden.
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He was in the right place at the right time and most likely got the best catch of the season…