Table of Contents
Get our free local reporting delivered straight to your inbox. No noise, no spam — just clear, independent coverage of Marblehead. Sign up for our once-a-week newsletter.
The CO2 cartridge hissed, the inflatable life jacket ballooned to full size, and a room full of eager onlookers leaned in for a closer look.
That was exactly the reaction Craig Smith, assistant harbormaster for the town of Marblehead, was hoping for during his recent visit to Anchor to Windward, a nonprofit serving adults with mild developmental disabilities. Armed with props, sea stories and a blunt sense of humor, Smith spent an afternoon walking participants through the basics of staying alive on the water.
"Know the boat, know how to handle the boat," Smith said. "Weather conditions are always really important."
He would know. April marks his 14th year with the harbormaster department, where he is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Marblehead harbor ranks in the top five in Massachusetts by fleet size, trailing only Boston — and power boats have recently overtaken sailboats for the first time in the harbor's history.
Smith arrived with an armful of equipment: a bulky, heavy-duty life jacket outfitted with a knife, whistle and glow stick he received when he joined the department; a slimmer inflatable model he prefers for everyday use; and a throwable seat cushion that doubles as a flotation device. He also demonstrated a monkey fist — a weighted knot concealing a lacrosse ball — used to throw a line to a distressed or grounded vessel, and made live contact with Tucker's Wharf using a handheld VHF radio during the presentation.
"Channel 16 is the Coast Guard hailing and distress channel," he told the group. "Channel 14 is your working channel."
The afternoon turned serious when Smith recounted a November rescue near the Marblehead lighthouse. A rower had taken a 22-foot rowing shell from Little Harbor all the way around Tinker's Island. By the time he headed back, the wind had built to four-foot seas. The shell capsized, and his crew found the man clinging to the overturned hull, shaking uncontrollably, in 50-degree water.
"He kept worrying about his sunglasses," Smith said. "I told him, 'Five more minutes and you're going to be dead — drop the sunglasses.'"
Smith's team wrapped the man in blankets and made him tea. A passing lobsterman plucked the boat out of the water. The rower's wife eventually came to pick him up, and Smith said the couple drove away in silence.
The story illustrated a distinction Smith was careful to draw for the audience: the difference between a rescue and a recovery.
"Recovery usually means you're grabbing a body," he said flatly. "I've been on about four of those calls."
Massachusetts is now mandating boating safety courses, making it the last New England state to do so. Smith compared the new certificate to a driver's license for boaters — a long-overdue requirement, in his view.
He closed by passing out "If Found Call" stickers for dinghies, kayaks and canoes that break free from docks. A small thing, maybe. But on the water, Smith reminded everyone, small things have a way of mattering most.
BEFORE YOU GO … Our reporting remains free and open to all. It is sustained by readers who choose to support it — by contributing so that routine, document-based local reporting continues without paywalls or promotional framing. Right now, 101 readers support The Marblehead Independent with monthly or annual contributions. Click here to become an Independent member.
