Friday the Thirteenth turned serious for one team fishing the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament held in Morehead City, North Carolina. Five anglers aboard the Raptor, a 47-foot Buddy Davis sportfisher captained by Ted Mears out of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were forced to abandon their boat after it caught fire roughly 50 miles offshore.
Tournament officials said all five people safely abandoned ship and were pulled from the water by the crew of Cost Plus, a boat that was not entered in the tournament but was fishing nearby, according to WITN.
“We were out fishing for fun, not part of the tournament, and noticed off in the distance some gray smoke. As we were discussing what we should do, it turned to black. We overheard on the radio the distress signals and headed that way,” Cost Plus first mate Paxton Peters said in an interview with WRAL. “Once we kind of established that it was in fact a fire, we decided that it was time to head in that direction and do what we should do and help people.”
Cost Plus pulled all five anglers safely aboard and transported them back to Morehead City, where they were dropped off at a hotel dock just after noon. Although their fishing trip came to a sudden and dramatic end, everyone made it out unharmed. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the fire.
Read Next: 3 Killed, 3 Injured in Boat Wreck at Major League Fishing Tournament
Meanwhile, the Big Rock tournament carried on. Now in its 67th year, the prestigious offshore event drew nearly 270 boats competing for millions in prize money. Big Trouble topped the leaderboard with a 517.1-pound blue marlin landed by angler Brandon Creech on Saturday, earning a $2.5 million payday that included an $807,500 Fabulous Fisherman bonus for being the first team to weigh a marlin over 500 pounds.
Read the full article here