AUGUSTA, Maine — Many Mainers only had to deal with power outages from post-tropical cyclone Lee over the weekend, but House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham was grateful to be alive following a harrowing rescue from his lobster boat.
Faulkingham, a Republican from Winter Harbor who also works as a lobsterman, described in a Sunday night Facebook post how he and a fellow lobsterman had finished hauling in traps Friday morning and were watching waves break off Turtle Island when “we saw a sight I never thought I would see and never want to again.”
It was a “giant rogue wave” that struck his 40-foot boat on the starboard side “like a freight train.” The boat flipped over on top of Faulkingham and his fishing partner, whom he called Alex.
Faulkingham said once he resurfaced after going underwater, he saw the boat was turned over with the engine running and smoke filling the air. He also thought the water was “as warm as bathwater.”
“Other people might have scientific or other theories, but that was the presence of God,” Faulkingham said.
After swimming to his boat and climbing on the stern, he yelled to Alex, who replied his arm was broken, before eventually catching a glimpse of him and pulling him aboard.
“Alex (had) a bad gash on his head. I used my pants to wrap his head and compress his wounds,” Faulkingham said. “Alex was in rough shape but by the grace of God alive.”
For about an hour, the two sat on the floating boat and tried unsuccessfully to flag down a few planes and a distant lobster boat. Faulkingham said he later learned his wife received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard at 12:20 p.m. Friday about his emergency locator beacon going off and that rescue teams began heading out to try to find him and Alex.
The rescuers included Faulkingham’s cousin, Mikie, whose nephew, Tylar Michaud, died earlier this summer after he went missing while out lobster fishing. Faulkingham said Mikie located him and Alex near Turtle Island at 1:18 p.m. and brought them onto his boat.
Faulkingham said the overturned boat he and Alex had sat on for an hour sank “just moments after we were rescued.”
“They’re very lucky to be alive,” Winter Harbor Police Chief Danny Mitchell Jr. told the Associated Press.
Maine officials reported one death during Lee’s arrival over the weekend. Gary Phillips, a Winterport man, died Saturday morning after a large tree fell on his vehicle while he was driving on Route 1 in Searsport.
Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia on Saturday at near-hurricane strength after moving along the New England coast, bringing destructive winds, torrential rains and big waves to the region. The National Hurricane Center said Lee was expected to weaken and possibly dissipate Tuesday.
Maine officials reported a peak of more than 100,000 power outages in the state, with most customers having service restored by Sunday night.