Local surfers save two lives when boat capsizes

In the late afternoon hours of Sunday afternoon three local surfers lead a daring rescue of two men who were thrown into the rough waters near the Manasquan Inlet after their boat capsized.

Jack Meyer, Mike Brown and Larry Schmidt, who were later joined by a handful of other surfers, immediately sprang into action after they watched a huge wave completely flip over a small powerboat, tossing the two passenger into the ocean.

"I was out there surfing and I noticed this small boat drifting in. It was pretty close to the inlet jetty and was right where the waves were breaking," Mr. Meyer said.

Sunday was a great day for surfing with good size waves, a result of Hurricane Gert, which was churning up the sea somewhere far off the coast. While the conditions may have been perfect for surfers, for a boat caught in the breakers, drifting, things were bad.

"I started to swim out to the boat, which was still right-side-up, to warn them that they were getting too close. I figured maybe their engine had stalled or something," Mr. Meyer said.

As he got closer to the boat and began yelling to the two men, Mr. Meyer noticed a huge set of waves coming in.

"When I finally got their attention and they realized how close they were they looked scared and shocked," he said.

The men in the boat had attempted to drop anchor to steady themselves, but it was no use. As they began to pull up anchor the first big wave of the set picked the boat high off the water. The second wave sent the small vessel over, spilling the two men into the water.

"The wave just flipped the boat with the guys still in, just dumped them," Mr. Meyer said.

Already only five to ten feet from the boat, Mr. Meyer quickly began to paddled out to capsized boat.

At the same time, on the beach, Mike Brown was just arriving with the hopes of getting in a few hours of surfing after work before the sun went down.

"I saw what happened and I just grabbed a board and headed out there to help. There was really no thinking about it. I just went," Mr. Brown said.

By the time he reached the boat, which was still being tossed around by some pretty rough surf, Mike noticed that Mr. Meyer had already grabbed one of the victims, so he went for the other. At the same time Larry Schmidt, who was also surfing that day, paddled up to give Mr. Brown a hand.

As Mr. Meyer grabbed the first of the two boaters, he asked the man if there were any other passengers on board.

"And it was really scary because the guy wasn't saying anything and I just didn't know if there were other people somewhere in the water that I just couldn't see," Mr. Brown said.

According to both Mr. Meyer and Mr. Brown, neither of the victims knew how to swim.

"But I told the guy, 'If you don't let go of my board, you won't die,'" Mr. Brown said.

As Mr. Brown used his surfboard to help keep his guy afloat he was also keeping a close eye on the boat which was erratically washing from side to side in the water.

"That was a whole other part of the whole thing, dodging the boat. It was pretty scary and we're really lucky that no one got slammed by the boat," Mr. Brown said.

After fighting the powerful riptide that was determined to pull them back out to sea, Mr. Brown and Mr. Schmidt were able to get the first victim safely to shore.

By this time a crowd had started to gather on the beach. Kenny Klos had called the police and the Coast Guard was also called in.

John Cocozza, who was on the jetty taking photographs of the surfers also witnessed the whole event.

"It was just crazy. I have never seen any rescue like that. It should have been easy, but the riptide near the rocks was really tough," Mr. Cocozza said.

"I could see the guys from the boat after they were tossed in the water and they had the fear of God on their faces. The Coast Guard eventually came, but if hadn't been for those surfers, those guys would have died," he said.

With the first victim on shore, all eyes were focused on Mr. Meyer who, because of fatigue and the rough surf, was having a difficult time swimming in.

"I had been surfing for about six hours and I was tired. I had the guy in a rescue hold, but he was just dead weight," Mr. Meyer said.

At that point a group of other surfers, including Mr. Brown, Mr. Schmidt, Scott Duerr, Chris Robinson, Chris Eastman, Chris Barnacle and a few others, quickly set out to help Mr. Meyer.

"Jack was just so tired and the guy kept slipping off his board, so we knew we had to help," Mr. Duerr said.

"Those guys were great. Chris Robinson was just a fresh pair of arms at a point when I was just wiped," Mr. Meyer said.

Finally, the surfers were able to swim the man to safety. Volunteer rescue crews had set up on the beach and placed tow lines in the water. The lines which were helpful, but the success of the rescue was due in large to the ability of the surfers, who probably spend more time in the water and know the intimacies of the ocean better than anyone else.

"Those men were fortunate to survive due to the quick actions of the surfers. Sometimes we complain about surfers, but this is an example of why surfing is a good sport. They're skilled enough to save lives," Manasquan Mayor John L. Winterstella said.

Mayor Winterstella said he intends to honor the surfers involved in the rescue at a public ceremony early in October.

The involvement of one of surfers who participated in the rescue, Larry Schmidt, lends a bit of irony to the saga. Mr. Schmidt was one of three surfers arrested a few years back in Spring Lake for surfing during a storm. During his trial, the prosecution repeatedly referred to Mr. Schmidt's actions in the water that day in Spring Lake as reckless, calling him "a danger to himself and to others." This past Sunday, he proved that his actions were anything but reckless and that his competency helped saved lives.

"I feel pretty confident in saying that if we weren't there and if we hadn't been paying attention, those guys wouldn't have made it," Mr. Schmidt said.

"Manasquan is a great town and they have done so much for surfing and I'm just glad that I could help out," he added.

As for Mr. Meyer and Mr. Brown, both said the incident had a tremendous impact on them.

"I know I shook all night that night. It took me a while to get to sleep. I just kept thinking about it," Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Meyer echoed those feelings.

"Yeah, it was heavy. And it makes you realize just how quick something can happen. As for me, I know I'm going to laugh more, enjoy more and tell my friends how much I care about them," Mr. Meyer said.

The men who were rescued were later identified as Howard Conser, Lakewood, and Dennis Dellechiaie, Howell Township.

According to a police report, both men refused first aid treatment after being brought to shore.

The boat, which finally washed ashore, was totaled.