Local News

Coast Guard rescues Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy off of Nantucket coast

Portnoy found himself stranded off the island with no way to radio for help.

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, sits courtside during Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

By Eva Levin

July 15, 2024

The Coast Guard rescued Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy off the coast of Nantucket after his boat began drifting out to sea, he said on Monday.

In a video posted to Tiktok, Portnoy details the events leading up to and after his rescue.

“Your boys almost lost Captain Dave today,” he said. “Captain Dave was almost lost to Mother Ocean.”

Portnoy chronicled his dramatic rescue for his nearly four million TikTok followers. He says it all began when he took his mother out for a boat ride off of Nantucket. He unhooked his boat from the buoys, only to find that the boat’s engine and breakers were dead.

@stoolpresidente We almost lost Captain Dave today. Thank you to the #uscoastguard ♬ original sound – Dave Portnoy

“No power, no radio, no anchor, no nothing. Heavy, heavy, winds. Next thing you know, Captain Dave is lost at sea,” he said in the video.

He tried navigating the crowded harbor so as not to crash into any other boats out on the water. He took out his flare gun and shot it into the sky, but didn’t receive any initial response.

“Captain Dave is not a flare gun or any type of firework guy,” Portnoy said.

Eventually, a girl sailing noticed Portnoy’s distress and boarded his boat, according to Portnoy. She first asked to make a TikTok, to which Portnoy replied “‘No, no time for TikToks.’” She then radioed for the Coast Guard.

“Sector Southern New England received a report from U.S Coast Guard Station Brant Point of an approximately 28′ pleasure craft belonging to Dave Portnoy that broke free of its mooring in Nantucket Harbor and was drifting through the area,” a Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Boston.com.

The station, which was involved in training exercises at the time, towed Portnoy’s boat into mooring. The spokesperson says they applaud the “Good Samaritan” for having a radio on standby to alert the Coast Guard.

The spokesperson added that they advise anyone going out on a boat to have multiple forms of communication to hail the Coast Guard in the event of an emergency.

Portnoy expressed thanks to the Coast Guardsmen who rescued him.

“Captain Dave lives to tell another tale,” he said.