HARPSWELL, Maine — The Maine Marine Patrol is investigating the death of a boater after lobstermen found his boat drifting early Tuesday morning.
Gary Hawkes told NEWS CENTER Maine he and his crew on the fishing vessel "Family Condition" had set out from Cundy's Harbor and were traveling near Flag Island around 6 a.m. Tuesday when they spotted a blue speedboat drifting near the island's southern ledge.
Initially, Hawkes thought whoever was driving the boat had gone in close to the rocks to fish for stripers before realizing something had gone wrong.
"We took a closer look and we saw that the boat had hit the rocks, and the bow underneath. You could see where they hit the rocks," Hawkes recalled.
He said the boat's bow had been smashed in considerably.
"So, we started looking around to see if there [were] any people up on the island, and we tried to go in to get the boat and we couldn’t get close enough with mine, so, I called marine patrol," Hawkes said.
Once marine patrol officials were able to get to the scene and drive in close to the boat, they found the body of Vincent Wells, 37, inside, according to Hawkes and a statement from marine patrol spokesperson Jeff Nichols.
Wells was a Phippsburg native and Harbormaster Doug Alexander described him as "a good kid from a good family" who have lived in Phippsburg for 100 years.