On Dec. 1, the Orient Fire Department water rescue team responded to a report of a sailboat in distress in Plum Gut, near Plum Island. Two passengers were aboard the vessel when it experienced difficulties that required immediate assistance. When the water rescue team arrived, the Cross Sound Ferry boat had already pulled alongside the sailboat and successfully rescued one passenger. The fire department then worked quickly to bring the second passenger safely aboard and transported them to Orient. The sailboat was subsequently towed to safety by Douglass Marine. No injuries were reported during the incident.
“We got a call for sailboat in distress in Plum Gut. When we responded the Cross Sound Ferry had already located the boat and pulled up alongside, and they were able to get one of the passengers off. We got the other guy and brought them back to Orient, no injuries. Everyone was okay,” said Rich Gillooly, water rescue captain for the Orient Fire Department.
Conditions this time of year, and the location of the boat, could have made this a more challenging rescue. Fortunately, the ferry provided some shelter from the worst of the waves, allowing the rescue boat to remove the second passenger to safety. “There was probably about five-foot seas, and they were in the Gut, which is where you get a lot of current. So luckily, the ferry was able to assist, and they kind of gave us a little lee, so we had some flat water to actually get the people off the boat. Otherwise it would have been a very difficult rescue,” said Mr. Gillooly.
The fire department maintains two rescue boats, one at Orient Yacht Club and one at Duryea’s. This is the time of year when the boats are taken out of the water, since most marine recreation is over for the season.
The closest Coast Guard stations, one in New London and one in Montauk, are each about an hour away.