Dave Portnoy Recalls Dramatic U.S. Coast Guard Boat Rescue: I Was 'Tom Hanks in Castaway'

Dave Portnoy's experience adrift at sea was more harrowing than he first let on.

In the July 17 episode of BFFs: Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards and Bri Chickenfry, Portnoy, 47, recounted his misadventure on the water, fittingly seated in front of a sign that says "don't give up the ship," and wearing a captain's hat.

As the story goes, his parents were visiting and his mom wanted to see his boat.

“Captain Dave unhooked himself to the buoy before he turned the boat on to make sure the boat wasn’t dead. Well no power, no radio, no anchor, no nothing. Heavy heavy winds," Portnoy shared in a video on X (formerly Twitter) following the incident. He elaborated on the situation more during the BFFs episode, recalling that he hadn't brought his cell phone with him since he figured he would be right back.

Portnoy said the boat, a 24-foot Boston Whaler, likely "broke free" from the buoy, resulting in the aforementioned heavy winds drifting the vessel into the middle of Nantucket Harbor and leaving him pushing off of other boats on the water to avoid collisions.

After setting off his flare gun to signal distress, a girl in a dinghy approached his vessel and climbed aboard. When she realized who he was, she apparently said that she wished she had her phone to make a TikTok, but Portnoy mentioned he was thrilled she didn't.

At that point, the media personality said he felt like "Tom Hanks in Castaway." Luckily, the girl on the dinghy had a radio and called the Coast Guard.

"The Coast Guard showed up and wheeled me in" he recounted. Meanwhile, his parents were waving at him from the shore, unsure of what was happening.

Portnoy also gave some context about his boating experience. "It's my third time on this boat. I'm not like, this crazy boat-savvy guy," he explained. As the Barstool Sports founder and the boat drifted out further from the harbor, he claimed the water got rocky and he didn't know how to "do the anchor" to stop the boat from moving.

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"Literally in my head, I'm like, if this thing makes it out of the harbor," he recalled. "Which, it looked like it was gonna... I may have to abandon ship."

"It was f------ crazy," he concluded, adding that he sent a "strongly-worded" text to the people who sold him the boat.

He also thanked the Coast Guard once more for their rescue. "Thank you to the Coast Guard who served the country bravely and performed that rescue. It was a harrowing day on the high seas for me."