Engine Fire On Nathan Carman’s Boat Led To Coast Guard Rescue Five Months Before It Sank

June 14--Five months before his boat sank in the Atlantic Ocean, Nathan Carman was rescued by the Coast Guard after the boat's engine overheated less than a mile off the shores of Point Judith.

Alone on the Chicken Pox on April 26, 2016, Carman made a 911 call from his cellphone and reported a fire on his boat. A Coast Guard cutter arrived within 40 minutes, only to determine that the engine had overheated because Carman had failed to open a valve to allow water in to cool it.

That same boat sank in September 2016, with Carman and his mother, Linda, on board. He was rescued after days in a raft. Linda Carman is presumed dead.

Before towing the Chicken Pox to shore in the April incident, Coast Guard officials inspected the boat and cited Carman for not having enough fire extinguishers on board, according to Coast Guard documents obtained by The Courant.

Carman filed an insurance claim for the damage, and the insurance company paid about $35,000 that June to have a new engine installed on the Chicken Pox, records show.

While the incident itself seems minor, it will likely become a part of the federal lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court in Providence involving Carman. The insurance company has refused to pay the claim when the Chicken Pox sank five months later and instead has sued Carman alleging it was his fault the boat sank.

Attorneys for the insurance company will raise the point that Carman called 911 when his boat was stalled less than a mile from shore, but didn't try to make a distress call on his radio or activate an emergency beacon when it sank five months later with his mother on board.

The incident also points out Carman's seamanship as the engine overheating in April was caused by not opening a valve. The insurance company is claiming that the boat sank in September because of improper alterations that Carman made to it himself the day before setting off to fish for tuna.

Carman has admitted that he removed the trim tabs from his boat and tried to seal the holes with an epoxy he bought at a local marine store. He also replaced a bilge pump that only days before a repairman had pointed out had problems, records show.

Nathan and Linda Carman were reported missing on Sept. 18, 2016, while on a fishing trip aboard the boat. They left from South Kingstown, R.I., late at night. Nathan Carman was rescued days later by a passing freighter off the coast of Martha's Vineyard after being found floating in an emergency raft.

In the previous incident in April, the Chicken Pox was towed back to the Point Judith Marina, and marina employees told Carman the engine damage was bad enough that it was better to totally replace it rather than try and fix it. The insurance company agreed, and the new engine was installed in early August, according to maintenance records previously provided to The Courant.

The new engine was taken out for a sea trial on Aug. 10 with Carman on board. Following that, Carman reported several problems with oil leaks from the new engine, maintenance records show.

In an e-mail to Tim Green, the service manager for Point Judith Marina, dated Aug. 26 Carman wrote, "I cannot imagine that it is normal for such a significant amount of oil to come out of a new engine every time it is run under load."

The last time someone from the marina inspected the boat or made repairs was Sept. 7, records show. They told Carman that the oil leak looked worse than it was because the oil was mixing with water from the bilge pump.

At that time, they informed Nathan Carman the bilge pump fuse needed to be replaced. On the weekend before the Carmans left on their ill-fated fishing trip, Nathan Carman installed the new bilge pump himself.

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