A man from New Jersey is alive thanks in part to an empty laundry detergent bottle that helped save his life after the sportfishing boat he was aboard capsized, killing his friend.
Frank Hennigan Jr. and Taylor Flannery set sail on the 50-foot boat named the Moonstruck, heading to Florida from Cape May Harbor. But they never made it.
The pair docked at Canyon Club Marina along the Jersey Shore Friday night. About halfway through the trip to bring the boat south for its owner, the vessel flipped Saturday afternoon in North Carolina’s Oregon Inlet. Both Hennigan, the boat’s captain, and Flannery, the boat’s first mate were thrown overboard.
Officials said the boat was operating on three of its four engines at the time of the mishap. Neither man on board was wearing a life jacket, according to officials.
Hennigan, a husband and father of three from Glenmoore, in Chester County, did not survive.
“That was all he wanted to do is be on the water…from the day I met him, he loved everything about boats and fishing. Our son’s name is Fisher,” said Mary Hennigan, the captain’s widow. “He has driven boats all over the world…There is not a person, as far as i’m concerned, that’s more qualified than him to be driving a boat.”
As for Flannery, authorities said he emptied a detergent bottle to help stay afloat before finding a life jacket. The Coast Guard later pulled him from the water.
“I think it’s amazing that he had the wherewithal in that terrible traumatic moment to think of the best way to survive,” said Flannery’s neighbor, Stephanie Lee.
Flannery suffered a foot injury and was back home in Ocean County Tuesday evening, but said he was too distraught to talk about the accident.
Authorities in North Carolina were still waiting for the results of an autopsy. They also reiterated a reminder about the importance of properly wearing lifejackets while on the water, regardless of a person’s boating experience or swimming ability.