A kayaker who was pulled through Moriches Inlet into the Atlantic surf on Sunday was rescued by volunteers with the Eastport Fire Department, who deployed a rescue swimmer to help bring the man to safety.
Responding to a 911 call from the beach by a man out seal watching, the department, part of a Marine Incident Response Team, quickly launched a rescue boat to make the save. Realizing that the victim was unable to grab a floatation device thrown to him due to severe hypothermia, the vessel’s captain, Department Chief John Dalen, sent his son, 1st Lieutenant Joseph Dalen, into the water to bring the man to safety. Also involved in the rescue were Eastport volunteers Ryan King and Mark Yakaboski, both former chiefs of the department.
The 911 caller, Mike Busch, described the action on his Great South Bay Images Facebook Page:
“Crazy scene at Moriches Inlet today. Spur of the moment, I decided to get my beach pass and take the dogs for a ride to Moriches Inlet. I started walking the dogs with my camera, looking for seals and noticed two kayakers in the middle of the inlet with an outgoing tide. I thought to myself, wow, that's kind of crazy, but kept looking the other way for seals. Eventually, one of the kayakers came up close to me and casually asked if I saw his friend. I zoomed out and saw him capsized and getting sucked out of the inlet. I immediately called 911, thinking the Coast Guard at Moriches would be right out. As soon as he hit the breakers, he disappeared.”
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| The Eastport Fire Department rescue boat heading back through Moriches Inlet after a dramatic surf rescue. Mike Busch, Great South Bay Images |
The victim, reported to be in his mid-60s, was transported to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in East Moriches, where he was picked up and brought to Stony Brook Hospital by the police helicopter. He was not identified by emergency officials.
“The guy was airlifted to Stony Brook and apparently is fine!” Busch wrote, adding, “If he didn't have a dry suit on, he would have been a goner. Great job by the first responders.”
According to Mastic Beach Fire Commissioner Bill Biondi, the Response Team was created after the Coast Guard pulled out of East Moriches and now conducts its operations from Shinnecock. The Eastport crew had the victim out of the water before the Coast Guard could have made the trip, and they were not deployed, Biondi said. A Suffolk Police boat recovered the kayak and transported it and the other boater, who made it to the beach on his own, to the mainland.
The surf was running about 4-6 feet in sets, making the sandbar at the mouth of the inlet a dangerous place. Moriches is notorious for marine incidents, and there have been numerous losses of life over the years. “We haven’t had a rescue like this in quite a while,” Joseph Dalen said.
Also responding from the incident team was a boat from the Center Moriches Fire Department and two jet skis from Mastic Beach, Biondi said. The Westhampton Beach, East Moriches, and Mastic departments also scrambled rescuers when the emergency call went out, while the East Moriches Community Ambulance assisted in preparing the victim for transport.
The Eastport Department made the rescue using a 25-foot all-around flotation equipped, or SAFE, vessel purchased from the Coast Guard, where Chief Dalen had served for 22-and-half years. Westhampton Beach Fire Department Chief Darryl Schunk was the Incident Commander and coordinated the emergency operations from a post at the Coast Guard Station.
“It’s great when many groups work together as a team to make sure everyone gets home safely,” Biondi said.