Authorities rescue fishermen from rocks off Raritan Bay jetty

[bababooey]

These guys were lucky, it was raining pretty hard today.

by Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger Friday April 03, 2009, 9:35 AM


Three men who spent the night fishing on a jetty in the Raritan Bay on the Old Bridge-Sayreville border were trapped by the rising tide and were plucked off the rocks in an early morning rescue.

A fourth man tried to reach the three in a rubber raft, but he fell into the bay and drifted about a mile south of the jetty before he was found and pulled from the water by a private citizen using his own boat, police said.
Authorities said five men went on to the jetty about 7 p.m. Thursday night to fish, but two of the men, seeing the rising tide, climbed off to shore in the pre-dawn hours.

One of the men, Frederico Mendoza, 20, saw his three friends become trapped on the rocks, got a raft and tried to paddle out to the jetty, police said. However, the raft overturn, dumping Mendoza into the bay.

Shortly after 5 a.m., one of the men called for help, and police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians from Old Bridge, Sayreville and Perth Amboy went to the scene, along with a U.S. Coast Guard ship.

The three men were taken off the jetty about 6:15 a.m., police said.

The private boat owner, Wayne Lawson, brought Mendoza to shore about 6:35 a.m., authorities said.

Mendoza was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy.

[VSdreams]

When you fish the jetties you have to watch everything. Safety is very important. Make sure you wear your korkers, watch the tides and don't play hero netting a fish.

[williehookem]

Those guys were amazingly lucky. Every year someone drowns off a jetty near an inlet somewhere. That guy on the raft should go to church and thank God that he was saved.

[cowherder]

These guys were lucky, it was raining pretty hard today.

by Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger Friday April 03, 2009, 9:35 AM


One of the men, Frederico Mendoza, 20, saw his three friends become trapped on the rocks, got a raft and tried to paddle out to the jetty, police said. However, the raft overturn, dumping Mendoza into the bay.

.

Wow he almost got killed helping his buddies. Good guy, glad he's ok.