‘I just knew I had to get there’: Machiasport harbor master rescues immobilized tugboat

MACHIASPORT, Maine (WABI) - A Machiasport harbor master recently helped with a tugboat rescue—and now may be headed for an expanded leadership role.

David Cale has worked as the harbor master in Machiasport for the past three years. On the evening of March 20, Cale was involved in the rescue of a tugboat at Starboard Island when his friend Captain Ellic Mottram called for help after having planned to arrive in Bucks Harbor.

“He calls me, I figured he might be early, and he’s like ‘Dude, I’m in a mess.’ I knew what the tide was going to be doing. I really didn’t think much about it because I’ve been doing things for so long. I just knew I had to get there,” says Cale.

Mottram had caught his boat on a mooring line and couldn’t move. Acting quickly, Cale grabbed his gear and traveled three miles from Buck’s Harbor to Starboard Island as it started to rain.

Following the boat’s spotlight, Cale arrived on board to develop a plan with the crew before stepping into the water, cutting the rope and ultimately freeing the tugboat.

“I was under the boat cutting, and there’s so much pressure on the line. Once I got it out, I surfaced and it was just like being in a washing machine, and I came up on the wrong side of the boat,” says Cale.

The boat reached shore reached shore at around 10 p.m. before Cale drove the crew home to Addison at around midnight. While Cale says that Mottram had insurance for the tugboat, he can’t say the same for vessels that have sunk offshore in the near past.

Over the past five months, the Machias native has witnessed the sinking of three separate vessels, including commercial and recreational boats. According to an article from the Machias Valley News Observer, all three vessels were not covered by insurance.

“Recreational fisherman will get a boat, take it somewhere and accidentally sink it and then walk away, and it becomes the town’s problem. A town should actually require a recreational person to have insurance after the boats are so big in length. or it should just be a state law that votes after certain like we need to have this insurance just to cover towns because it’s becoming up,” says Cale.

Throughout his years of experience, Cale sites former Machiasport Harbor Master Wade Day as someone he looked up to.

“He passed away just before Christmas. I think he’d been happy with the work I’ve done. I’ve grown up here my whole life, being able to help people out, guide them in the right direction, pretty much helping them anyway I can.”

Cale is currently up for approval to serve as harbor master for the town of East Machias. If voters approve the measure in June, he will become the first harbor master in the town’s history.