Dave Portnoy Rescued by the Coast Guard After He Was ‘Lost at Sea’: ‘No Power, No Radio, No Anchor’

Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy says he is lucky to be alive today after having to be rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard just outside of Boston.

On Monday, the 47-year-old Massachusetts native and social media personality took to X (formerly Twitter) to recount the experience of how he was “almost was lost to the ocean” after his boat lost power and was drifting slowly out to sea near Nantucket. 

In a video shared with his 3.2 million followers on the online platform, Portnoy — who repeatedly referred to himself as “Captain Dave” in the video — explained that he had unhooked his boat from its buoy and began floating away from the harbor with zero control.

“No power, no radio, no anchor, no nothing, heavy, heavy winds,” he shared. “Next thing you know, Captain Dave is lost at sea.”

Portnoy continued, saying that he was doing his best to avoid other boats in the harbor and stop himself from crashing into vessels as he drifted. At one point, he says he used his boat’s flare gun to signal for help from anyone nearby. 

The businessman finally came into contact with “some girl in what looks like a rowboat” who he said was able to call for help from the Coast Guard using her radio. Portnoy also colorfully added that after she boarded his boat, the girl — seemingly a fan — asked to make a TikTok with him, to which he responded, “No time for TikToks.”

Coast Guard officials were quickly dispatched to the scene and were able to bring the “Barstool Presidente” back to safety where he thanked them for the assist and credited the “four burley dudes” from the agency for saving his life. 

“Thankfully the Coast Guard, God bless their souls, tied me up, brings me back — Captain Dave lives to tell another tale,” he shared.

According to a statement sent by Coast Guard representatives to NBC 10 Boston, several members of the team did in fact rescue the influential online figure after an incident involving his boat drifting out to sea. 

Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Northeast division ended up quoting Portnoy’s tweet on Monday afternoon, confirming his retelling of the events and reminding their followers to take precautions while out on the water. 

“You’re welcome, Dave. Tell Miss Peaches we said hi and remember to boat safe! #SemperParatus,” they wrote, referencing Portnoy’s dog, Miss Peaches, who has more than 1 million Instagram followers. 

The scary experience clearly didn’t impact Portnoy’s sense of humor, however, as he later shared a screengrab of one article detailing the day’s events, captioning the post on X, “Island life.”

Glad to hear he’s safe!

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