Boat Sinks After It Strikes Montauk Jetty

A 44-foot Meridian yacht sank after striking the west side of the Montauk jetty Thursday night, the Coast Guard said Friday. 

No one was injured when the boat hit the rocks and began taking on water on the west side of the jetty at about 9:30 p.m. Members of the Coast Guard were on the pier when they heard the crash, according to Petty Officer Ryan O'Hare.

"They could see the running lights. Knowing the area, they knew it wasn't right," he said. The Coast Guard called East Hampton Town police and the Marine Patrol, and Coast Guard members took a van to the jetty because the area is too shallow for the Coast Guard boats, he said. 

When the Marine Patrol arrived with its boat, patrol officers and Coast Guard members boarded the boat and rescued a husband and wife before the boat sank deeper into the water, Officer O'Hare said. 

He said the couple had come from Patchogue and missed the entrance to the harbor. He believes the captain "spun around, thinking he was going back in the entrance, and ended up hitting the jetty." He was going about 15 knots, the officer said.

"It's rock jetty. It won't take much at that point for a hole to get punctured in the hull," he said.

Officials secured the boat, but it is the owner's responsibility to have it removed, they said. 

The boat was still there around midday on Friday, but did not pose much of a danger to other boaters.

"It's not the entrance side — it's on the opposite side of the channel," Officer O'Hare said. "There's hardly any traffic there."

The Coast Guard is continuing to monitor the boat for any signs of leaking fuel, but for now there was no evidence of pollution, he said.

The Coast Guard's Marine Safety Detachment in Coram is handling the pollution side of the investigation.