Close Call for the Shamrock

    The Coast Guard has credited the  response of the Shamrock’s crew for saving the fishing vessel on Saturday morning. The boat’s design also helped keep her afloat. According to published reports, the wooden boat, based in New Bedford, Mass., had sprung a plank in 10 to 12-foot seas 70 miles south of Montauk.

    It took seven hours for the 70-foot Shamrock to reach Montauk escorted by the cutter Tiger Shark. She was so full of water by early Sunday morning she was unable to enter the harbor. Instead, a crew from the Montauk Coast Guard station helped get the flooding under control with pumps added to the two that had been lowered by a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter.

    Once the boat was dewatered and repaired to the satisfaction of the Coast Guard, she and her crew of four were permitted to continue on to New Bedford. Chief Petty Officer Jason Walters of the Montauk station said that as much as 20,000 gallons had been pumped from the Shamrock during the ordeal.

    A mayday had first gone out on Saturday morning and was relayed to the Coast Guard by other fishing vessels. The Bookie, a fishing boat out of New York City, stood by the Shamrock until the Coast Guard came on the scene at about 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. By then Shamrock’s crew had donned survival suits and had readied Shamrock’s lifeboat.

    Shamrock was reportedly built with chambered bulkheads, which helped keep her afloat. No injuries were reported.