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The rescue that was no rescue at all
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Posted on Sep 14 2004
Department of Public Safety Boating Safety Section officers went on a mission early Saturday morning in hopes of rescuing what was thought to be a distressed vessel, only to find that the vessel had no problems.
According to DPS public information officer PO2 Eric F. David, a call reporting a distressed vessel off the cliff line of the Kingfisher Golf course was received at 12:55am. He said the call was made by the Emergency Management Office.
David said that EMO reported four occupants of the vessel, who were spear fishing along the cliff line, have been signaling the boat captain to be picked up. However, they did not see any signs of the boat moving, prompting them to believe that it was experiencing engine problems. The four then swam to Jeffrey’s Beach and called for assistance.
BSS officers escorted two of the four fishermen to Smiling Cove Marina, where they took off for what they though was a rescue mission onboard police vessel Zodiac II.
They arrived at the site of the vessel at 3:03am.
“According to the operator of the vessel, he was waiting for a call or signal from any of the four fishermen to be picked up and never saw or heard any sign of them, so he waited for them on the boat,” David said. “Boating officers asked if he is experiencing any problems with the engine and were told no.”
The vessel was then escorted to Smiling Cove Marina, where all the fishermen and the operator united.
