The owner of a 40-foot Silverton owes his life to the fast thinking of Captain Lee Hartman, who drives a TowBoatUS vessel out of Black Point Marina south of Miami. We know that Hartman definitely saved the owner from drowning; he probably saved the man from being attacked by the saltwater crocodiles who live there.
Hartman was just honored at the annual BoatUS Towing Conference in Arlington, Virginia. He happened to be in the right place at the right time, but his refusal to give up saved the owner’s life.
Black Point Marina is the largest public marina in Miami. It is located at Black Creek, named because the water flowing into the bay is very dark in color. It’s also home for so many saltwater crocodiles that management prohibits swimming in the area.
Hartman’s heroics, as recounted in Miami New Times, started innocently enough. He got a call to help a disabled 40-foot Silverton, probably a victim of bad fuel. It took him about an hour to tow the boat, with a captain and the owner on board, from Biscayne Bay back to the Black Point fuel dock.
When Hartman tied up he noticed a crocodile feasting on fish heads that were being tossed into the water from the fish cleaning station about 50 feet away, but that was not unusual. He didn’t pay any particular attention to it.
Hartman was filling out paperwork on his boat when he heard a loud splash. He figured it was the croc – until a sixth sense made him think again. He looked around and saw the captain of the Silverton, but not the owner.
Alerted by Hartman, the captain raced below to look for the owner. Hartman started searching the dock. He knew the current was running out of the marina, so he checked in front of nearby boats. Nothing.
He checked in between boats. Nothing. Finally he jumped on the stern of the Silverton and swept his arms through the water. The owner was under the swim platform, unconscious, pinned by the current against the props. Hartman, the captain and two other people pulled him out and tried to give him CPR while waiting for the ambulance. It turned out the owner had suffered a heart attack; he spent a week in the hospital.
But Hartman realized as the ambulance was pulling away from the dock that the crocodile was still there, just a few boat lengths away. Read more.
