A three-generation family of four was rescued on Tuesday, Nov. 25, after spending about 20 hours clinging to their overturned boat off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The group — Dennis Woods, 70, his 90-year-old uncle Clarence Woods, 42-year-old Cris Harding Sr., and 18-year-old Cris Harding Jr. — had set out from the Seminole Street Boat Ramp around 9:30 a.m. local time on Monday, Nov. 24, for a birthday fishing trip. Sometime between noon and 1 p.m., their 25-foot green and white catamaran, fittingly named Money Well Wasted, began taking on water and capsized.
Dennis later told Clearwater Police in an interview shared on their social media that one side of the boat filled so fast that it rolled in just a few minutes. There was no time to call for help, he explained, so their focus shifted to getting life jackets on Clarence and the teenager. Dennis said the life jacket he planned to wear got snagged and he had to abandon it.
As night fell, they spotted a Coast Guard helicopter searching the area, but they couldn’t make themselves seen or heard.
Dennis described the nighttime hours as especially brutal. The waves grew and they were forced to climb higher onto the rigging of the overturned vessel to stay above the water. He spent much of the night physically supporting his 90-year-old uncle, who slipped and fell multiple times.
Dennis’ sister, Teresa Rucker, told reporters — including Fox-13 and Tampa Bay 28 — that the family genuinely feared they would not survive the night. She said they prayed together as they waited and that Clarence sang to keep spirits up. Rucker added that their faith carried them through, saying their pastor had taught them that whatever happens, “God’s got you in His hand.” She called the outcome nothing short of a miracle.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26, around 7:15 a.m., an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew from Air Station Miami finally spotted the four men still perched on the hull of their capsized catamaran, about 26 miles west of Clearwater Pass. Conditions at the time were reported as 2- to 3-foot seas with winds of 5–10 knots.
Savannah O’Dell of the U.S. Coast Guard, who was on the rescue boat, told Fox-13 that crews were particularly concerned about the 90-year-old man, who was exposed on the outside of the vessel. She said they were relieved to find everyone still hanging on and noted that it was remarkable the catamaran had not yet fully sunk.
Rescuers maneuvered alongside the overturned boat and brought all four aboard, wrapping them in warm towels and providing water and electrolytes. O’Dell recalled that the first thing the men did was thank the crew.
Dennis later said he always believed help would eventually arrive but knew it would take time before anyone realized they were overdue.
Relatives told Bay News 9 that the group usually returns by around 4 p.m. When they still weren’t back by 8:30 p.m., the family contacted authorities. Their truck and trailer were found still parked at the dock, confirming they had not come ashore.
Emergency responders met the men when they arrived back at the Coast Guard station. All four were suffering from dehydration and hypothermia, and Clarence had cuts from the ordeal. Three of the four spent the night in the hospital for observation, while Cris Harding Sr. was released on Tuesday.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(674x517:676x519):format(webp)/florida-family-rescued-at-sea-clearwater-112625-3-55edbf942ef847d8ad9cba75f30caa0b.jpg){kind=spacer}
Rucker shared that Cris Sr. managed to find a bit of humor in the situation, asking her to pass along that he had landed a six-foot shark before everything went wrong.
As for Dennis, whose 70th birthday began with a simple fishing trip and ended with a life-or-death struggle at sea, he summed up the day with a laugh once safely ashore: now that they were back on land, he said, it turned out to be a good birthday after all.
