COHASSET — On Tuesday July 18, 2023, at about 6:00AM, the Cohasset Police Department was dispatched to Black Rock Beach for a vessel in distress. The South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call for a boat taking on water with multiple people in the water. The reporting party stated that the boat was 300-400 yards offshore.
Cohasset Police and Fire Department responded to the area by land and the Cohasset Police Marine Unit and Cohasset Harbormaster responded by boat. The United States Coast Guard Sector Boston was notified, and the duty crew of Station Point Allerton was dispatched. Upon arrival of emergency responders, the boat’s occupants were bailing out water from the boat’s deck. Due to the sea state, the boat eventually made landfall on Black Rock Beach.
Through investigation it was learned that the boat was originally on a mooring and was not being operated. The boat’s owner observed his boat taking on water, mustered an ad hoc crew that entered the water from shore, and swam to the sinking boat, cutting it from its mooring, causing it to beach.
The probable cause of the boat taking on water was improper mooring gear which allowed the boat to succumb to waves over the bow. The frantic dewatering efforts of the owner and crew led the reporting party to believe that the boat had crashed.
After dewatering was completed, the boat was taken off the beach and brought to safe water under its own power. There was no pollution, environmental hazards, or injuries as a result of this incident.
The Cohasset Police Marine Unit would like to remind mariners when anchoring or mooring to always allow enough scope on your gear to account for wave height, wind, and other contributing factors. Also, with the excessive amount of rain that we have had over the past week, today is a great day to check your bilge pumps’ functionality and your boats bilge for excessive water.
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