MARSHFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - When two surfers got stranded in freezing water, the Marshfield harbormaster and his crew battled intense waves to bring them to safety.
“Surfing’s a big thing in Marshfield and this is the first surfer call we had in 13 years since I’ve been harbormaster,” Mike Dimeo said.
On Jan. 5, a call came in for two surfers who were stranded in Green Harbor.
Dimeo and his assistant were on the water in minutes trying to locate them.
“They did a good job of staying together, treading water,” he recalled. “It was my job to hold the boat steady and get down close as I could.”
But, with a coastal flood advisory in effect, the waters were rough and choppy — making the tough job all the more difficult.
“The seas were a bit challenging as you can see,” Dimeo said. “I was unable to get between them and the beach because of the waves that were breaking, the surf. You kinda want to avoid the breaking waves so I couldn’t get that much closer to them.”
He said the 10 and 12 foot waves were so high that he could not even see the stranded surfers.
“All we had was the fire department’s red lights and blue lights on the beach, so we knew we were in the right vicinity,” he said. “That’s kind of the tricky part.”
The harbormaster said that after about 10 minutes of searching, they spotted the surfers and his assistant was able to pull them to safety.
“I’m very thankful for the equipment that we have cause it makes your job easier,” he said. “Had it been years past with subpar equipment that we used to have those things are not happening.”
Dimeo said even though it was a tough rescue, it is all in a day’s work.
“That’s why we’re here. Luckily we saved two lives these days. Had it been a little longer – it was getting close to dark. The tide was definitely going out so it could’ve been a little more challenging,” he said. “Timing is everything sometimes.”
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