A boater the U.S. Coast Guard called “a good Samaritan” is responsible for bringing four people who were stranded on an overturned boat about a half mile off the east coast of Block Island today. The boat was not submerged and there were no medical concerns regarding the stranded boaters, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Amanda Wyrick, who she said were returned safely to Charlestown, R.I.
Wyrick told The Block Island Times that while the Coast Guard dispatched a 45-foot response boat from the island, and also diverted a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to get an aerial view of the scene, it was the boater who brought the rescued crew to the mainland.
Personnel from the New Shoreham Harbors Department and the state Department of Environmental Management were also involved, Wyrick said.
The vessel was still located about a half mile off shore as of 4 p.m. today. Wyrick said it did not pose any threat of pollution, and that the boat owner was working with his insurance company to “work on a salvage plan.”
