‘I am not dying today’ — charter boat captain recalls moments following collision
A Lowell charter boat captain says rescue crews saved his life when his boat capsized in a collision on Saturday. Paul Belley’s boat, the 21-foot Janet Marie, collided with the 58-foot Captain George just after 12 p.m. Saturday on the river between Salisbury and Newburyport, according to U.S. Coast Guard Northeast. Belley and his four […]
A Lowell, Massachusetts, charter boat captain says rescue crews saved his life when his boat capsized in a collision Saturday.
Paul Belley’s boat, the 21-foot Janet Marie, collided with the 58-foot Captain George just after 12 p.m. Saturday on the river between Salisbury and Newburyport, Massachusetts, according to U.S. Coast Guard Northeast. Belley and his four passengers were tossed into the river.
Belley, in a Sunday morning Facebook post, wrote, “When the boat flipped I came up under the boat and found a air pocket and collected my thoughts
“I said to myself I am not dying today …”
Belley wrote that he put on a life jacket, but that fumes from the fuel were growing strong.
He wrote that he dove from under the Janet Marie, but he became tangled in the bowline and started to be pulled under until he was cut free.
Harbormaster Paul Hogg told WHDH-TV the harbor patrol boat was able to reach Belley, free him and pull him on board.
Crew aboard the Captain’s Lady III, on a whale watch, saved the Janet Marie’s passengers, the Coast Guard said. No one suffered serious injuries.
Belley is well-known throughout the Merrimack Valley as a charter captain and musician. He has been involved in numerous charitable activities throughout Lowell.
Early Saturday, Belley posted a photo on Facebook, adding, “Misty foggy morning here in Newburyport Harbor. Perfect fishing day.”
On Sunday morning he wrote, “One for the books …”