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Ranman
09-03-2002, 10:22 AM
Plucked this from OSO. Supposedly the boat was a 28ZX.

Lifeguards recall rescue off Point Beach

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/02/02
By GREGORY J. VOLPE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
POINT PLEASANT BEACH -- Battling currents, winds and waves up to 12 feet high, three lifeguards had only one thought as they made the most dramatic rescue of their careers Saturday night: helping the victims.

Jenkinson's Beach Lifeguards Michael Herman, 21, of Point Pleasant Beach, Assistant Capt. Vincent Dallicardillo, 30, Toms River, and Sgt. Michael McGee, 25, of Brick, swam more than 200 yards in rough conditions at 4:55 p.m. Saturday to save the lives of two boaters.

"It was pretty hairy," Herman, the lead rescuer, said yesterday. "I was pretty calm about everything. I've never seen anything like it before. It was very exciting. I loved it. I'd do it over and over."

Herman was working his last shift of the season Saturday, before heading back to the University of Delaware where he is a senior physical education major. He saw the 31 foot Donzi speed boat take on water after crashing down a wave. When the boat capsized, he radioed for help and headed to help the victims.

Dallicardillo and McGee, who had come from other parts of the beach, followed Herman into the water to help the boaters.

"When you're more than 200 yards off shore, that's more of a Coast Guard or State Police thing," Dallicardillo said. "But we weren't sure who had contacted them or how long it would be, so we went out instinctively, I guess."

With the wind, rip currents, and waves that ranged from 9 to 12 feet, the rescue reminded Dallicardillo of scenes from "The Perfect Storm."

"It was pretty cool," he said. "It was a neat experience. It's exciting, a good way to go out for the season."

When Herman reached the victims, he used a floating torpedo to stabilize two of them: a 33-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, whom Coast Guard officials are not identifying. The boat's operator, Stephen M. Egan, 34, of Point Pleasant, was being pulled onto the 47-foot Coast Guard Cutter when the lifeguards arrived.

"It was just kind of get in and get there and then kind of hang out and wait just to make sure the victims are secure," McGee said.

The Cutter, manned by Petty Officers Paul Ashley, Peter Hanners, Joshua Hagan, David Welsh and an unidentified sea cadet, then pulled in the other two victims and the three lifeguards who monitored the victims' conditions while they returned to shore. The victims received cuts and bruises when the boat capsized, but none was hospitalized.

The whole episode took 15 minutes, McGee said.

Dean Albanese, lifeguard captain at Jenkinson's, said he was proud of his squad, whom he called heroic.

"They get pumped up for things like that, that's what they're there for," he said. "They were pretty pumped that they saved someone's life. They're definitely heroes, just to go out in those waves. I'm glad they're on my staff. I'm very proud of them."

The cause of the capsize remains under investigation, but authorities believe it was because of extremely rough conditions that lead to a heavy surf advisory and small craft advisory for the entire Jersey Shore.