SW-INC-0574SeaWise Incidents

off Craigville Beach - Catamaran capsizes three miles; two sailors who drifted away from the hull are found by a police boat

Both wore life jackets and called for help on a phone sealed in a plastic bag.

verified · 4 sourcesN4
Vessel
off Craigville BeachSailing catamaran
When
2026North Atlantic Ocean
Crew
2 aboardAll survived
Outcome
Rescued
Position
About 3 miles off Craigville Beach, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Sea area
Nantucket Sound
Coordinates
41.59°N, -70.34°WApproximate position
Summary

What happened.

On 1 October 2026 a catamaran capsized about three miles off Craigville Beach in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Both men aboard were in the water in life jackets and called police on a phone sealed in a plastic bag. A police boat found them 200 yards from the hull. Neither was hurt.

Shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday 1 October 2026, a man from Centerville called Barnstable Police to say that his catamaran had capsized about three miles off Craigville Beach and that he and a friend were in the water. Both were wearing life jackets, and he made the call on a mobile phone sealed inside a plastic bag. The dispatcher kept talking to them and narrowed down their position. Two police sergeants who were training nearby in a police boat went straight out. They found the upturned catamaran first, but not the men, who had drifted about 200 yards away. They kept searching, found both and pulled them aboard as a harbormaster boat arrived. Neither man was injured and both were brought back to shore.

ConditionsThursday 1 October 2026, call at about 13:54. About three miles offshore from Craigville Beach in Nantucket Sound. Weather and sea state not reported, nor the cause of the capsize or the size of the catamaran. The two men had drifted about 200 yards from the overturned hull and could not be seen at first. Pin is hand-set and approximate; the digest's parsed pin was inland and has been overridden. Sources: Newport Dispatch and NBC Boston, both 8 October 2026.
SeaWise noteThree things saved them: life jackets, a waterproofed phone, and a fast call. The one thing that nearly cost them was drifting away from the hull. A capsized boat is bigger and easier to see than a head in the water. Stay with it if you can.
Lessons learned

What it teaches.

  • 1
    After a capsize, stay with the boat. The hull is far easier for rescuers to spot than people in the water, and it gives you something to hold.
    man overboard rescue
  • 2
    Carry a phone or handheld VHF in a waterproof pouch on your body. Here it let the crew call for help and guide rescuers to them from the water.
    man overboard on watch
Sources

Where this comes from.

News· Google NewsSailboat capsizes off Barnstable, two sailors safely rescuedVisit ↗News· NBC BostonTwo sailors rescued after boat capsizes in Cape CodVisit ↗News· Shrewsbury PostSailboat capsizes off Barnstable, two sailors safely rescuedVisit ↗News· Boston 25 NewsTwo teens, three rescuers hospitalized after boat capsizes off Falmouth beachVisit ↗

SeaWise indexes and links to primary sources; it does not host their reports or media. Crew are referred to by role unless documented consent is on file.

From SeaWise

Procedures involved.

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CapsizeRescueNorth Atlantic Ocean
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Record IDSW-INC-0574
Curated bySeaWise editorial
Confidenceverified · 4 sources
Record typeIncident

About SeaWise records: We catalogue sailing emergencies with structured metadata and link to primary sources rather than republishing them. Individual crew names are anonymised by default— sources we link to may name them publicly; SeaWise refers to roles ("the skipper", "the crew") on our pages. Submitter identities are always private.