Two anglers thrown into river after boat capsizes in Hampden

HAMPDEN – A fishing expedition turned into an unexpected and frightening swim for a Kenduskeag couple Thursday morning.

Denise Wood, 44, and her boyfriend, Fred Smith, 49, were drenched and shivering but safely ashore after their boat capsized around 8:30 a.m. in the Penobscot River.

Wood, owner of the 17-foot aluminum powerboat, swam to shore while three employees from nearby Hamlin’s Marina rescued Smith from the river.

Bangor firefighters arrived within minutes of receiving a call at 8:45 a.m. Marina employees, however, already had removed Smith from the water and towed the capsized boat to the public landing. Brewer fire and Hampden police departments also responded.

Neither alcohol nor foul play were factors in the incident, according to Hampden patrolman Joel Small.

The pair were fishing for striped bass about 100 feet off shore near Hughes Brothers construction on Route 1A. The current carried the boat downstream after the couple dropped anchor, Wood said. Once the anchor caught bottom, the boat flipped and heaved the pair into the cold water, which was about 20 feet deep in the area, she said.

Smith snagged the only visible life preserver and tossed it to Wood, who peeled off her heavy coat and shoes and donned the vest. She kicked her legs, waved her arms and screamed for help. After reaching shore, she worried about her boyfriend who was swept down the river.

“I prayed that someone heard me hollering,” said Wood, who stood barefoot and shivering Thursday morning after the incident. “I thought he was going to get sucked under.”

Another life vest was stuck beneath the boat, leaving Smith floating on his back without one. He quickly lost feeling in his legs from the cold water and no longer had the energy to fight the current.

“I thought this was going to be my last day of fishing,” he said. “The river was unbelievably strong.”

Hamlin’s Marina, located about a half-mile from where the boat capsized, received a call from a Brewer man who said two people were in the water yelling for help, according to marina manager Greg Parker of Albion.

Parker, 40, and two other employees jumped into a company vessel and saw the bow of a boat jutting out of the water and a man floating face up. The crew pulled Smith into the boat. He almost collapsed from the cold water, which soaked his bluejeans and sweat shirt, but he was otherwise in good health, according to Parker.

“He did the smart thing to tread water and not fight the current,” Parker said.

The boat had minimal water damage and its electrical system was still functional when a marina pickup pulled the boat from the water at 9:30 a.m.

The anglers lost fishing poles, the rear seat and some bait worms. Their lunch, a salad, drifted past Wood as he tried to stay afloat.

After the boat was flipped upright, it still was littered with tackle boxes, a spare anchor and the second life vest. Smith said he usually wears a life preserver but was too eager to go fishing and he failed to put it on Thursday morning.

“We’re very, very lucky,” Smith said, embracing his girlfriend.

They planned to drain the boat and go fishing again this weekend.