Captain Brad Glas - A Man To Respect

As I drive up mid week at 3 p.m. to the Hel-Cat Dock Fishing Parties off Thames Street, the lot is packed with jovial groups of congregating guys, boxes of freshly filleted fish and a clean-up crew. 

Hel-Cat is a party fishing boat which runs 7 days a week - first come first serve.  I meet owner Captain Brad Glas on board and immediately feel the tough, formidable and commanding nature of this seasoned maritime professional.

Brad’s parents George and Claire Glas began the business in 1946 after George left the Coast Guard.  They started with a 38 footer and traded up for a 47-foot converted rum runner named Helen in 1958.   

“At the time, there were several accidents and several loss of lives in the industry, so the government regulated the party boats in 1958,” says Brad Glas. 

As a result of stricter guidelines, they were no longer able to use Helen but built Helen II, which was lengthened to 60 feet in 1962. 

“I am now the president of National Party Boat Owner’s Alliance.  We represent boats on all coasts,” says Glas. “My father was one of the founders and was the executive director.”

According to Glas, with government over regulating, the alliance serves as a united voice for the rights of party boat owners nationally.

“We have so much government regulation - we are regulated into oblivion. We used to have freedom on the boat, and now you need a lawyer in the wheel house with you,”  he says. “We fish in the water in three different states with three sets of rules.” 

Upgrading again in 1968, they built the first steel catamaran in this business.  In order to keep their brand name, they hyphenated Helen and Catamaran, hence the birth of Hel-Cat.

Glas says many people want to know who Helen was.  When they purchased the rum runner, they adopted the name on the original documentation from 1930.   

“So we think Helen was either the boat owner’s wife, daughter or mistress, but we’re not sure,” says Glas.

He savored growing up in the business and says he knew how to drive a boat before he knew how to drive a car.  Out of high school, Glas went to the Merchant Marine Academy, then joined the Navy.  He came back to Hel-Cat in 1967 and has been a part of the family business ever since. 

Glas takes groups out fishing for striped bass and blue fish with the occasional tuna and mako shark. 

“We used to get swordfish in summer cod fishing – we’d harpoon them and sell them to the market,” he says. “Swordfish used to work the gullies 12 miles off Block Island, but they’re not there anymore.  Now they’re caught before coming in to shore.” 

Almost all trips are without incident, but on rare occasions, Glas says nasty weather can kick up.

“I first met my other half Lisa in 1987, and took her out fishing southeast of Block Island," he says. "It was blowing a bloody gale out of the west.  We were rolling around and crashing into the stuff - spray all over the boat - the first third of her was out of the water.  It looked like photos out of the Deadliest Catch, but Lisa was having a ball.”  

During stormy seas, Glas and his crew twice rescued people clutching to an overturned boat.  Rescue efforts in 1973 involved a Hel-Cat II crew jumping overboard in stormy seas to rescue two young boys trapped under the boat.  Their heroic efforts gained them a gold medal from the U.S. Coast Guard and a lot of press.

Now with 114-foot Hel-Cat II, business is going strong.  Son Preston, 41, is at the helm the businesses second party boat and Mom, Claire, 91, is still answering phones.

Although Glas gets frustrated with the increase in regulation, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. 

“It’s more than a job - it ends up being a way of life,” he says.