'They were heroes.' Avalon Beach Patrol rescues 10 as sailboat sinks
The rescue involved nearly 50 guards using Jet Skis, lifeboats, paddleboards and swimmers.
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Dramatic viewer footage shows the moment when a sailboat stuck between crashing waves and a jetty began to sink in Cape May County late Wednesday morning. All 10 on board were rescued and uninjured.
“You could see that the sailboat was in deep trouble,” said Chief Matt Wolf of the Avalon Beach Patrol. “Waves were coming from the northeast, and so they were shoving the boat up against the rocks.”
Wolf said the call came in late Wednesday morning from a bridge operator. It was a mayday call for a sailboat that was sinking in Townsends Inlet.
The rescue involved nearly 50 guards using Jet Skis, lifeboats, paddleboards and swimmers. Wolf says it's an area where people aren’t allowed to swim and that it has a history of shipwrecks.
“We tell the guards it's one of the most dangerous bodies of water on the East Coast,” Wolf said. “It was a harrowing 30 minutes.”
Wolf says those on board were wearing lifejackets. He said the boat went out and quickly turned back, but the motor failed and the sails were not up. Strong waves directed the boat into the jetty.
“If we had had a training scheduled for [Wednesday] in the inlet, we would have canceled it," Wolf said.
News 12 contributor Joe Martucci is also the meteorologist for Avalon Emergency Management. He says the height and power of the waves elevated the danger.
“The surf heights were about 3-4 feet,” Martucci said. “That's on the higher side. We also had wave heights a little bit beyond the immediate surf that were higher than that.”
“Time was of the essence,” Wolf said. “Our guys were there, they acted, and they were magic. They were heroes.”
