They threw a life ring to the two men and hauled them onboard one at a time. The stranded boaters told Captain Watts they had been losing hope. It was a Monday in the off season. On top of that, it was a rough day, and few boats were out.
) - This is a tale of two fishing trips, and how one nearly ended in tragedy while the other ended in the catch of a lifetime. Two men are alive today thanks to what their rescuers are calling nothing less than divine intervention.
“I’ve been out on the ocean many times and I’ve never been sick, but I was kind of nauseous that day so Captain Brian actually came around and said, ‘Hey, we can start heading back if you want,’ and I said, ‘You know what? No. I want everyone to have a good time,’” recalled Christine Liles from her home in Missouri. “We’re not going to go back because of how I feel,’ so that’s when they took off and kept going.” Liles was in Orange Beach for a family vacation Monday, September 22, 2025 and like many, booked a fishing trip out of Zeke’s Landing Marina. She spent most of that trip inside the cabin, a bit seasick but used her phone to take pictures and document the trip. What had been an uneventful day on the water changed quickly with that decision to keep fishing. “As I was trying to figure out a good way to go, I had noticed a boat off in the distance, just glanced at it and then, when I finally decided where I was going to go, started heading that direction and I kept looking out that window looking for that boat,” recalled Captain Brian Watts. Watts was at the helm of the charter boat Water Dog when he lost sight of the boat. His First Mate then spotted it about a half a mile away and someone appeared to be waving, so the crew headed that way. As they got closer, the seriousness of the situation struck all on board. “You know, you don’t know if there’s only one person left…if there’s a casualty. You don’t know what you’re pulling up to, so it was a blessing that the two men that were on there, once the boat capsized, they got on top of it and they had been there over two hours,” Watts said. While Captain Watts radioed the Coast Guard, Liles’ husband, Keven assisted First Mate, Fisher Paisley in the rescue. They threw a life ring to the two men and hauled them onboard one at a time. The stranded boaters told Captain Watts they had been losing hope. It was a Monday in the off season. On top of that, it was a rough day, and few boats were out. Some may call it fate…others coincidence. But for those involved in the rescue, there’s only one explanation. “I could have told Captain Brian that I was too sick to keep going and we could have turned around,” Liles pointed out. “You know, my faith in God is big so I think that He is, He just told me, ‘No,’ you know. ‘Tell them to just keep going.’” “We had out charter boat meting about a month ago. We had a gentleman from Iron Man Ministries that does the Wounded Warrior trips, and he gave us all coins that had been anointed. It has Jesus on one side, and I’ll tell you before I show you this,” Watts began. “I had it on my dresser and for whatever reason, the night before I saw it and I’m like, I need to put that in my pocket. So, the next morning, which was that morning of, I put it in my pocket and if you’ll look at the very bottom. I don’t know if you can see it, but it has God’s hand reaching down and a hand coming up out of the water, like he’s saving someone,” Watts finished as emotions welled up inside of him. As for the fishing charter, the Liles family said they weren’t able to bring home any fish and when they were offered another trip later in the week, they quickly declined, saying they’d never be able to top this one.Southwest Alabama municipal runoff election resultsMobile City Council passes vape tax ordinance
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