DANGEROUS WATERS

Ten Rescued From Sinking Ship After Boat Smashes Into Rocks

Eight teenagers and two sailing instructors were left stranded after their boat smashed into jagged rocks.

Ten people were rescued from a sinking ship in New Jersey after their sailboat smashed into jagged rocks following an engine failure. Video footage shows the passengers, who were on a sailing lesson, desperately clinging to the boat as it sinks near a beach and jetty. They donned life jackets and jumped into the open water, as a mayday call was made at around 11 a.m.. Avalon Beach Patrol Chief Matt Wolf said the area was one of the most dangerous patches of water on the East Coast. “I’ve been working for 28 years. That’s probably the most wild rescue that I ever personally witnessed,” he told ABC7. Wolf said around 40 lifeguards were dispatched to rescue the eight teenagers and two sailing instructors stranded in the water, who were unharmed but shaken by the experience. The rescue on Wednesday was the 24th that day, more than any day that summer. “There’s not too many people or organizations who could pull off a rescue like that, and that’s really a credit to our guards, the training that they have,” Wolf added. “Some of those lifeguards that were down there today went above and beyond, and there were definitely heroes down there.”