A fun−filled cruise to nowhere for a group of Xaverian High School graduates ended in a rescue operation as the ship’s helmsman deviated from his course to save six stranded anglers found grasping onto their overturned vessel.
Salty Sheepshead Bay seamen Captain Dave Paris and Salvatore “Captain Cody” Catapano were lauded as heroes early Sunday after they reeled in the six fishermen from the frigid waters off the Marine Parkway Bridge in Jamaica Bay.
Officials said that a combination of rough waters and 30−mile−per−hour winds caused the 25−foot fishing boat to capsize shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday.
One of the victims managed to make a mayday call before he abandoned ship.
The call was picked up by Captain Catapano, who was operating a tug boat in the channel.
Catapano re−broadcast the call, which was picked up by Paris, proud captain of the Captain Dave 2.
The mayday was also heard by an NYPD helicopter, which swooped over the flipped over vessel and reported back that three of the victims were in the water struggling to remain afloat. Three others were clinging to the side of the capsized vessel.
Captain Dave immediately sailed into action −− whether his passengers liked it or not.
“What can I tell you, that’s what a rescue is all about. There are lives at stake, so they couldn’t say anything.”
No one balked as a simple nighttime cruise turned into a seafaring adventure.
“They were quite cooperative,” he said.
Within moments, he and his crew were casting off lines to the three people in the water.
Captain Catapano’s tug boat rescued the other three victims, officials said.
All six fishermen were taken to Pier 3 in Sheepshead Bay −− the usual berth for the Captain Dave 2 −− to transfer the victims to an awaiting ambulance.
“Two of the people had to be removed on stretchers,” Captain Dave remembered, adding that all of the victims could have suffered from hypothermia if they were in the water a few minutes longer. “The water is freezing and they were in there for about 20 minutes.”
