NORTH HAVEN – The Maine Marine Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating an incident involving a schooner captain who fired an antique pistol in Pulpit Harbor last week in an effort to stop an erratic jet skier.

Capt. Neal Parker, 45, of Rockland, owner of the 67-foot schooner Wendameen, which charters cruises out of Rockland Harbor, and personal watercraft operator Ryan Marves, 20, of North Haven may be charged in the July 25 incident, according to Marine Patrol Sgt. Victor Cole.

Parker called the Coast Guard to report the jet skier, Chief Warrant Officer Kyle Santheson said Tuesday, after Parker had fired a shot from an old musket that had a blank in it, to scare the young man. The jet skier had been operating erratically and when Parker tried to slow him down, the two men had “words exchanged” and then Parker fired the gun, Santheson said.

Santheson said that the Coast Guard’s investigation of the case was turned over to the Marine Safety Office in Portland because the Wendameen is a commercial vessel. Lt. Ed Minor, the investigating officer at MSO Portland, said Wednesday that the case was still under investigation.

Marine Patrol Officer Brian Tolman, who also is investigating the incident, said Wednesday that he was still gathering statements and likely would refer the matter to the district attorney and possibly the grand jury.

Parker fears that he may unjustly lose his captain’s license, which he has held for 25 years, while the jet skier may get only a small fine. “This incident is jeopardizing my career … my livelihood,” he said.

According to Minor, the Coast Guard could give Parker a warning or suspend or revoke his master’s license to carry passengers. Under state law, Parker could face a charge of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon or criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, Tolman said, while Marves may be charged with operating to endanger or operating with imprudent speed.

Parker’s version of the encounter runs along the same lines as sketchy information provided by officials, but he said he cannot understand why charges against him would even be considered.

“I followed the law and now I feel like I’m being prosecuted,” Parker said Tuesday.

According to Parker, he had every right under U.S. Coast Guard navigation rules to use a gun to signal that his guests and vessel were in distress. Under Rule 7 of the navigation rules for international inland waters, “Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt, such risk shall be deemed to exist.”

The navigation rules also state under Rule 37 that a gun fired at intervals of one minute may be used as a distress signal.

When asked about the navigation rules, Minor said that firing a weapon intentionally or to scare off someone is not something the Coast Guard takes lightly.

Declining to discuss the rules, Minor said that he did not believe Parker’s interpretation was accurate.

“I don’t think that’s the appropriate action to take,” Minor said, referring to the gun signal.

Both Minor and Tolman expected the investigation to conclude in a couple of weeks.

According to Parker, after he politely signaled with his hands for Marves to slow down, the young man continued to whip around the harbor, “deliberately circling and antagonizing boats.”

Earlier, when Parker first spotted the skier, the captain and his charter guests were anchored in the harbor and were eating dinner at about 6 p.m. The jet skier “flew” into Pulpit Harbor and “plowed” under a low bridge where six to eight children were swimming. The skier did a “bunch of doughnuts” and then did the same maneuvers in the direction of the Wendameen.

When the skier slalomed at a high rate of speed around several anchored boats, “I gave him a very polite signal to please slow it down,” Parker said. “He was frightening my guests.”

According to Parker, Marves slowed his Arctic Cat and began swearing at him.

Parker said that Marves yelled to him, “This is my harbor, I live here.”

“He started to charge at us wide open,” Parker said, describing how the watercraft was bearing down on the schooner.

Parker said that not knowing whether the Arctic Cat operator would turn away, he sent a deckhand to get a signal gun, which resembles “an old pirate toy.” The pistol was loaded with a cap – not black powder or a live round, he said. Parker fired the pistol once into the water, he said.

“All I was doing was protecting the passengers I have been charged to protect,” he said.

“If I had a real handgun I could have used it,” he said, referring to the navigation rules. “The fact that what I did made him stop … it probably saved lives.”

When contacted Wednesday, Marves offered a slightly different story.

Marves, who bought his 1996 Arctic Cat 770 personal watercraft eight days before the incident, was on his way to go “super tubing” at Mill Creek near Pulpit Harbor. Super tubing is when a rubber inner tube is towed behind a personal watercraft, similar to water skiing. However, no one was around, he said, so he left and headed toward the harbor.

According to Marves, he passed the Wendameen at about 20 to 25 mph and out of the “corner of my eye” saw someone pointing a gun at him.

“They pointed, aimed and fired three times,” Marves said. “He definitely fired three times. They pointed at me and aimed – without a doubt.”

After being fired at, Marves said to himself, “Oh my God, I better boogie.”

At one point, Marves had gone under the bridge, he said, but there were two children swimming and “you have to go underneath the bridge slow.”

Thinking that a flare gun had been fired at him, he figured that after three shots, the pistol was empty. So, he approached the Wendameen.

As far as being politely asked to slow down, Marves said, “We never had words until after he fired at me.

“He told me I was a menace and a nuisance,” Marves said, adding, “We made quite the threats to each other.”