Tow boat captain rescues drowning man in Rehoboth Bay

Sept. 6 was sunny and breezy, a normal day on the water for Mike Rice.

As a Sea Tow boat captain, he was used to getting calls to help boaters in distress in Rehoboth Bay. 

Sea Tow is a locally owned franchise, a membership service, like AAA for boats.

“We tow, give you a battery jump, bring gas if you run out of gas. If it sinks, we’ll bring it up,” Rice said. 

So when he got a call to respond to a pontoon boat that was aground between Burton Island and the Seaside Bar & Grille, it was routine.

Rice said Sea Tow responds to 20 to 30 calls a season for boats stuck on sandbars.

When he got to the pontoon boat, owner Mike Kobach was waiting. His wife and two other couples were also on board.

Kobach is an experienced boater from Danville, Pa., who spends the summer at his vacation home near Bethany Beach and on the water.

“The area had shifted after recent storms, [so] it was more shallow. I knew we were going to be stuck for awhile without assistance,” Kobach said.

Kobach said Rice attached a rope to the front of the boat, but the first attempt failed to pull it free. It was during the second try that things started to go wrong.

“[Rice] reattached ropes to rear of boat and was able to pull it into the channel. The channel has deep, swift currents and lots of boats,” Kobach said. “In order to disconnect the lines, I had to jump into the water. I should have put on a life jacket.”

“I heard his wife screaming, ‘Mike! Mike!’ I looked back and saw him in the water,” Rice said. “You have protocol you go through. I could have thrown him a life preserver, but with the wind and the waves, he probably wouldn’t have gotten it. I had to make the call to get a rope to him.”

Rice said the current was pulling Kobach into the bay, and he had only seconds to act. He said he was working on adrenaline.

“Every time he took a breath, he was getting water in his face. I figured he wasn’t going to make it. I circled around, wrapped a tow line out in front of him. He grabbed the line and I pulled slow,” Rice said. “I got him to the boat, reached down and, like a bear hug, just pulled him up.”

Other than spitting out water, Kobach was fine. Kobach said he did not go to the hospital.

“I didn’t really feel like I was in danger, because I’m a good swimmer,” Kobach said. “But I’m glad Mike was there; he did a good job.” 

Kobach said Rice pulled up alongside his now free-floating pontoon boat and he was able to jump back in.

Both men said a lot of important lessons came out of their experience.

“Always wear a flotation device. A lot of people say, ‘If I go in, I can swim,’ but conditions may dictate otherwise,” Rice said. “Check the winds, check the weather. Sea Tow is happy to give you local information. It could save your life.”

“The profiles change over time. Those pop-up sand formations are not on the charts. You should follow the buoys and other traffic,” Kobach said.

Rice said he does not have any formal lifesaving training, but his job could be something different on every call.

“It’s part AAA, part EMT and part detective,” he said.

Rice said even though Kobach knew what he was doing, one little slip-up caused a whole different situation.

“I did what anybody would do, but being there and moving quickly may have prevented a tragedy. It clicked later that it could have turned out very different, very badly,” Rice said.