By Will Katcher
Source masslive.com
A father and son are safe and back on dry land thanks to the quick work of Boston police who rescued the pair as their boat sank in the far reaches of Boston Harbor.
Police found the men struggling to stay above water, clinging to a cooler near the Graves Light, the lighthouse on the outermost island in Boston Harbor. The engine of the men’s boat had become tangled in lobster lines, and they abandoned ship as the vessel took on water, the Boston Police Department said.
Around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, when the two men sent out a call for help, a pair of officers in the Boston Police Harbor Unit were patrolling the area only eight minutes away.
Officers Stephen Merrick and Garrett Boyle, later identified as the responding officers by the Boston Globe, found the men sinking near the lighthouse. As they arrived, only a portion of the men’s boat — the “Glory Days” — was above water.
The father and son — who the Globe reported were in their 70s and 30s — told the officers they were weak and struggling to stay afloat. After initially treating the men on the police boat, Merrick and Boyle ferried them to land, where Boston EMS took over their care. The “Glory Days” was towed to Thompson’s Island.
Body camera footage obtained by CBS Boston showed the moment the police boat pulled up alongside the men, who were visibly weary as police pulled them aboard.
At a Thursday afternoon press conference, Merrick said the father and son’s engine had died after becoming entangled in the lobster trap line, according to the Globe. The vessel drifted into some rocks, puncturing its hull and flooding it with water. The men called 911, but their call disconnected as the boat went underwater.
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