The brutal reality of the situation was brought home to Dave Portnoy when he realized his boat was no longer tied to a buoy and that his stuck boat was now at the mercy of the ocean.
“That’s when I knew it was all over for me.” Portnoy told NBC Boston. On Tuesday, he spoke about his recent boating accident: “The current was strong. The wind was probably 20 miles an hour on Nantucket. I had no radio, no engine, nothing. And I was just drifting out in the ocean. I thought, screw you. That’s when I knew I was in trouble.”
“I don’t want to say I stayed calm. The ocean doesn’t care how much money you have. It will drown you in an instant, it will humiliate you in an instant. I was very nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Portnoy on Monday detailed the harrowing journey, which ended with him being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of Nantucket.
The controversial Barstool Sports founder chalked the situation up to his own inexperience, claiming Monday was his third voyage and that his experience has mainly been with home runs.
Portnoy wasn’t sure whether the boat was unmoored before checking to see if it had power, or if the boat simply came off the buoy, but either way, it put them in a dangerous situation.
“The boat was completely stuck,” Portnoy said.
In an interview with NBC News, Portnoy was shown standing in front of a sign bearing the Navy motto “Never Give Up on the Ship,” and said the sign helped him avoid jumping overboard and later prevented him from burning it.
Locals claim that Portnoy did something no one had ever done before, floating on the water.
“I actually fired a flare while I was in port. I don’t think anybody’s ever actually fired a distress flare while in port. I did,” Portnoy said. “I don’t know if I’ll be criticized or ridiculed for that.”
Portnoy eventually encountered an unnamed woman on the boat, who he claims recognized him and told him not to film the situation on TikTok.
She radioed the port before heading to the Coast Guard.
“It’s one of those stories you hear often, the story of the unsung hero of the night,” Portnoy said, “I don’t know her name. She had a passenger on board who was no older than 6, but they seemed used to the ocean. Neither of them were as nervous as I was.”
He added: “Thank you so much. She saved my life. Without her I might not have even made it halfway to St. Barthélemy yet. Who knows?”
The incident marked another frightening moment for Portnoy, who shockingly announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.
He has now beaten cancer.
“The ocean is a scary place,” Portnoy said. “When you don’t know anything about boats, and I did, there must be a way to manually lower the anchor. I didn’t know that. I was lost. Don’t underestimate the ocean. That’s my advice to any aspiring captain out there: I would go out again. Life will knock you down, but you have to get back up. But I’m grateful to have this interview with you now.”
Portnoy also praised the Coast Guard’s efforts, awarding it a 10 out of 10 in the style of his famous pizza review, calling it “pure top notch.”
“Without it, maybe a shark would eat me. I don’t know,” he said.
