Traffic Disruption and Power Outage Caused by Hooper Avenue Crash in Toms River
August 6, 2023Get Ready for Shake Shack’s Ocean County Debut
August 7, 2023
A crew of sport fishermen became good Samaritans at sea on Sunday morning when they rescued four people whose boat capsized in the Atlantic Ocean near the Manasquan Inlet.
The Gemini, a 56-foot Viking sport fishing vessel, was about 3 1/2 miles outside the inlet that separates Monmouth and Ocean counties when Captain Chris Davidson noticed another craft going under.
It was 11 a.m., and Davidson had just turned off their engine when one of the boat's co-owners noticed the other boat approximately 600 feet distant, its stern about to fall beneath the surface.
"Chris, I think that boat's sinking," remarked Davidson, referring to Joe Cabasso, who owns the Gemini with his brother, Jack. "I turned around and said, 'Yea.'" The back end of the boat could already be seen sinking into the sea."
Davidson, 49, the boat skipper for the Cabassos' personal fishing outings, steered the Gemini toward the sinking vessel. He approached the four passengers as they were treading water after jumping ship with no time to put on life preservers.
A video of the rescue posted on Instagram by someone on board the Gemini showed the rescuers taking the survivors aboard while the bow of their boat was still visible, pointing straight up a few feet above the surface.
According to an assessor who went out to the area, the vessel eventually vanished without a trace, according to Ensign Josh Ledoux, a spokesman for the United States Coast Guard. According to Ledoux and Davidson, a New Jersey State Police vessel responded to the offshore site and rescued the survivors from the Gemini.
The survivors were rescued by a State Police boat at Shark River Inlet. According to Ledoux, no one was wounded, and he had no information on the sinking boat, its owner, or its occupants.
Ledoux described the Gemini's crew as "good Samaritan" boaters and hailed the Jersey Shore's close-knit boating community for members' willingness to assist vessels in distress.
