Volume 21, Number 7 | THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN | June 27 – July 3, 2008
River rescue
A father and son were thrown into the Hudson River Tuesday after their sailboat capsized in roiling water amid a strong afternoon squall. The fire department’s rapid-responding rescue boat, Marine 1 Alpha, pulled the boaters out of the river and brought them to safety near Tribeca.
The two sport-sailors, who had set off from New Jersey, sustained no injuries in the accident, said Seth Andrews, a fire department spokesperson. He said the squall’s winds were upward of 40 miles per hour, and the fire department’s rescue vessel was on the scene in a matter of minutes.
Michael Fortenbaugh, commodore of North Cove Marina and the Manhattan Sailing Club, observed Tuesday’s rescue from terra-firma. “It looked like a little dinghy out there,” he said of the overturned sailboat. “It had nothing whatsoever to do with our organization.”
Given the size of their boat, where they were, and their lack of information on the dangerous weather situation, Fortenbaugh believes that the operators of capsized sailboat were sailing irresponsibly. “It was a very small boat to be in the Hudson River.”
“Hopefully those boaters learned a lesson,” Fortenbaugh said.
