What is normally a boat that shuttles people around the river has turned into a rescue boat twice in two days: The Channel Cat Water Taxi.
The rescuing started Wednesday night, when the Celebration Belle got stuck in a channel near Campbell's Island. The Channel Cat was there to load passengers and get them safely to shore.
Then Thursday, a sailboat capsized near the Davenport Sailing Club during a storm. Two men were in the water needing help. They were wearing life jackets and were rescued by, yet again, the Channel Cat, which got them to shore safely.
"You never know, and that's why you do training to be prepared," Capt. Scott Sexton says.
That training came in handy for Capt. Sexton and his deckhand. He says he almost didn't take the Channel Cat out yesterday because of an incoming storm.
"I didn't realize it was going to quite blast us that hard so I got out anyway and got out on the PA here and told the folks we're going to get wet," he says.
That's when he noticed something strange in the water, two men overboard, grasping onto an overturned boat.
"It's unexpected, it was very unexpected," Sexton says, "There's no way I'm going to leave them here."
Even with emergency crews just minutes away, Sexton says he couldn't wait. He and his crew put their training in action, lowering the ramp, and bringing the men in to safety.
"When I see someone in the water holding onto an upside down sailboat, I'm not going to just go away and let the next guy take care of it," Sexton says.
He says he's been working on boats for 25 years, but he's never had to deal with this.
Even though it's not usually a job for the Channel Cat, crews are trained multiple times a year in rescues, so they're always prepared just in case.
"I'm sworn to the safety of my passengers and the integrity of my vessel," Sexton says, "So the training is paramount. It always is."
