Three Medford residents survive boating incident on Schoodic Lake

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    LAKE VIEW PLANTATION — Three senior citizens from Medford survived the capsizing of their motorboat during a storm on nearby Schoodic Lake on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
    According to the Maine Warden Service, boat operator George Tucker, 75, his wife Beverly, 69, and their friend Charles Jenkins, 77, were on Schoodic Lake when the eastern Piscataquis County region was struck by a heavy rain storm that included both high winds and lightning.

    The 12-foot aluminum boat, with a 2.5-horsepower outboard motor, became filled with water from the storm and capsized. At the time the three passengers were over a mile from shore and about two miles north of the Lake View boat landing.
    All three of them were wearing lifejackets when the boat capsized, and they were able to stay with the craft as it drifted for nearly two and a half hours on the water.
    At 7:25 p.m. a pair of bear hunters had pulled over on the Schoodic Lake railroad bed near the shoreline to change a flat  tire on their truck. Rick Seavey of Sanford and Mark Aventzen of Pennsylvania then heard calls for help coming from the water and they dialed 9-1-1.
    The Milo fire and police departments, Three Rivers Ambulance and Maine Game Warden Dan Carroll all responded to the scene.
    As the boat drifted closer to land George and Beverly Tucker opted to swim for shore while Jenkins remained with the boat. The Tuckers eventually made their way to shore, and Jenkins was rescued by a Milo Fire Department boat while he remained with the overturned craft.
    George and Beverly Tucker were both taken to Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and treated for hypothermia. Jenkins was treated and released at the scene. All three were reported to be doing well the day after the boating incident.
    The Maine Warden Service reminds all boaters to wear lifejackets. They said if the three boaters in the Aug. 28 capsizing chose not to wear their lifejackets, it is likely this incident would have had a tragic ending.