Maryland recorded its first boating accident of the year Tuesday morning when a Dorchester waterman fell from his boat and drowned while power dredging for oysters, Natural Resources Police reported.
Samuel Edwin Todd, 59, of Crocheron was working at the mouth of Goose Creek and Fishing Bay at about 9:30 a.m. when the dredge he had just emptied failed to drop back into the water, swung back toward the deck and struck him. The force of the blow knocked him overboard, the NRP said.
Todd's mate was not familiar with how the boat operated, and ran to the VHF radio to call for help. The mate went back on deck and waved down watermen working nearby, who found Todd face down and unconscious and pulled him out of the water, the NRP said.
NRP Sgt. Art Windemuth said Todd was in the 39-degree water for about 10 to 15 minutes. He was not wearing a lifejacket.
Members of the Elliott Island Volunteer Fire Department attempted CPR, and Todd was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where he was pronounced dead.
Todd's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore for an autopsy. The NRP and the Coast Guard are investigating the incident.
