Last July, a father and four of his kids fell overboard while boating on Lake Texoma, which straddles the border between Texas and Oklahoma. The remaining son on board called 911, which immediately contacted Capt. Michael Tucker, who owns the TowBoatUS Franchise on Lake Texoma. He sprang into action and soon was able to rescue all five, leading BoatUS to award him with a Meritorious Service Award. We caught up with Capt. Tucker to learn more about the fateful day.
How long have you been a captain and TowBoatUS owner?
I’ve been a captain for 20 years and a towing captain for 15. I bought the Lake Texoma TowBoatUS in 2022.
What’s a typical service call on the lake?
We run six boats on the lake, all staffed by qualified captains. Its’ typically for a tow, to pull someone who’s run aground or to help someone who’s run out of gas. We like to say that we’re there to make someone’s bad day a little bit better.
Are you considered first responders on Lake Texoma?
Texoma is an interesting lake in that it touches two states, four counties and seven municipalities. We’re somewhat unique in that we’re the only ones who operate 24-7 on the lake. If a 911 call on the water comes to Grayson County, we’re usually the first ones they call to respond.
What was the water like on that day?
It was an absolutely beautiful Tuesday on the lake. Just a normal, sunny day. But an afternoon thunderstorm popped up with heavy straight-line winds. Out of nowhere it went from calm and sunny to a storm with heavy winds and waves.
Grayson County called my office relaying that a kid called who was stranded on his boat. He’d gotten a rope tangled in the propeller trying to retrieve his dad and siblings who had fallen in the water.
I stepped outside into 40-mph winds. Our boat happened to be in dry dock getting serviced so I jumped on a rental pontoon boat along with dockhand Ellie Karam.
What was the rescue like?
As soon as we left the breakwater, heading out on the lake on a pontoon boat proved every bit of a challenge as we immediately started taking waves over the bow. Within 13 minutes from the call we found the stranded runabout with a 13-to-14-year-old boy on deck. He pointed to where he thought the others were and we first found a teenage girl. We got her into the boat by the swim ladder and then found another teenage girl in the water with an 8-year-old boy. He had floaties on his arms, the only one of the five to have any kind of life preserver. We pulled them in and saw another 14-year-old girl about 200 yards away.
Her head kept going underwater and resurfacing and I resisted every urge to jump in to save her, as our training says don’t do it. Instead, we were able to hook her with an oar and bring her onboard.
About 200 yards further away, we saw a sailboat desperately fighting the wind trying to throw a life ring to someone in the water. We were able to go over and get the Dad too.
The crazy thing is, after we rescued them, the storm passed and it went back to being a calm, beautiful day.
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How did they fall overboard in the first place?
They were on about a 22-foot bowrider that had a sun pad over the engine. I’m not certain but, from what I can gather, they were lounging on the sun pad when the storm kicked up out of nowhere.
What safety lessons can boaters learn from this?
I think it’s incredibly important to do a safety check with the crew before you head out. We wish everyone had on a life jacket, but we know that most people don’t. At least have them accessible and not stowed under other gear belowdecks. And always have a throwable life preserver ready to go.
From our perspective (as the rescuers), we teach our team that we don’t rise to the occasion, we fall back on our training. We do not go into the water unless it’s a last resort— too many times they’ll take you down with them. Do everything you can to retrieve them from the boat.
