STRATHMERE — A quick response from members of the Upper Township Beach Patrol helped a distressed boater right his capsized catamaran and get under way without any ill effects Sunday evening.
UTBP Capt. Bill Handley said the sailboat had flipped over in “pretty strong winds” and the operator was “unable to right the ship himself.”
Handley said the UTBP got a call from a 911 dispatcher reporting the incident at about 5:40 p.m. Sunday, just shortly after the regular shift went off duty and the after-hours alert crew took over.
Senior Guard Blake Boffa and third-year guard Kailey Grimley, 17, launched a personal watercraft and sped to the scene, about a quarter-mile off the coast.
Handley said because the incident occurred during the transfer from one shift to the next, Grimley had to get to the scene before the rescue could be effected.
“It was a strange time, during the transition from regular duty to alert duty,” he said. “Grimley came from another stand, and we were able to launch relatively quick and get there.”
Handley said the boater was not in danger because the catamaran will not sink but that he was not going to be able to overturn the boat himself. The effort was complicated by the rigging.
“We had to be careful because the cables and stuff can get caught in the PWC intake,” he said. “Boffa had to stay away and Kailey had to swim over to the catamaran.”
Handley said the UTBP staffs the headquarters for two hours after the beach guards go off duty, until 7 p.m. weekdays and 7:30 p.m. weekends.
“We ascertained he was going back to Sea Isle, watched him make way and everything was fine,” Handley said.