A three-hour gap between a mayday call and when local boats were dispatched may or may not have changed the fate of a missing towboat captain on May 16.

The Coast Guard received a distress call from the 38-year-old John Redler, of the 29-foot TowBoat U.S. vessel "Triple J" around 1 a.m. Redler, whose home port was in Marion, was found dead in his sunken boat at approximately 6 a.m.

Coast Guard officials say and local officials confirm that local responders were notified around the time the mayday call came in, but were advised that the sea conditions were too dangerous for them to respond.

There was "just slightly over two miles of visibility. Skies were overcast. Rain, fog," explained Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell.

Wareham Police Lieutenant Kevin Walsh said the Coast Guard then asked for assistance around 4:15 a.m., at which point the Wareham Harbormaster Department was notified.

The Marion Harbormaster Department also responded to the scene at approximately 5:40 a.m. after receiving a call for help, said Marion Police Chief Lincoln Miller.

The Wareham Harbormaster Department found the boat unmanned and partially submerged at approximately 6 a.m., about three miles south of Hog Island Channel, according to the Coast Guard. Hog Island Channel is located in Buzzards Bay in the area of Great Neck in Wareham, near Stoney Point Dike.

Divers from the Wareham Fire Department recovered Redler's body at approximately 8:30 a.m.

"When we first got the call ... conditions were difficult at best," said Wareham Fire Captain Mark Rogers. "Heavy mist. Fog. Visibility was less than a quarter mile. Spotty showers. It was tough conditions."

Wareham Fire sent a five-person dive team to the scene at the request of the Wareham Harbormaster, Rogers said.

"Line-of-sight was nonexistent," Rogers noted, adding that Onset Fire also sent a boat.

Officials said Redler had completed a tow in Barnstable and was returning home at the time of the mayday call.

Marion Harbormaster Mike Cormier said the captain was well-known in the area.

"We all know him down at the docks. He had been renting a spot here for the year and we got to know him over the past four or five months. We saw him nearly every day out there," Cormier said. "He was a really terrific guy."

Officials are still determining what caused the boat to take on water.