Saved Off the Point After Kayak Capsizes

A Manhattan man was saved from drowning off Montauk Point Sunday afternoon by the captain and mate of a Montauk fishing boat, the Breakaway.

That the man, Juan Rosario, was spotted at all was happenstance. Jason Walter, a former senior chief petty officer and former commanding officer of the Star Island Coast Guard station, was working at the Montauk Lighthouse in his new civilian job as maintenance supervisor for the historical site, wrapping up the Lighthouse’s annual weekend festival. Shortly before 3 p.m., he said yesterday, he went to his truck. “It was a freak thing. I was sitting in my truck. The water was pretty rough, pretty choppy out there.” Then he spotted Mr. Rosario, whose kayak had flipped over, struggling to stay afloat. He was about a quarter-mile out, Mr. Walter said, well past the point of safety. “He was drifting around to the east, whipping by the Point.”

“Twenty-one years of training paid off,” Mr. Walter said. The Coast Guard logged a call from him at 2:55, according to Petty Officer Ryan O’Hare.

The two closest commercial boats Mr. Walter could see were the Breakaway and the Viking. The Breakaway appeared closer to the man in the water. A 43-foot sportfishing boat, it is also far smaller and more maneuverable than the 100-foot Viking.

Mr. Walter knows the captains in Montauk, most of whose numbers are on his cellphone. He called Rick Etzel, captain of the Breakaway.

“I was coming in from a shark trip,” Mr. Etzel said yesterday. “Jason Walter calls me: ‘You just passed a guy in the water.’ ”

Mr. Walter guided Mr. Etzel back toward Mr. Rosario, who was drifting toward the rocks. “He was wearing a child’s life jacket,” Mr. Etzel said. “It was hard to see, especially in the choppy water.” He was concerned by the rocks, but at an 18-foot depth, he had the room to maneuver.

Meantime, 25 to 30 people who were participating in a boater safety display being conducted by two members of the Women’s Auxiliary Coast Guard, Maria and Tisha Bouboulis, moved to the shore’s edge, shouting out encouragement to Mr. Rosario.

Captain Etzel’s mate, Ed Harrison, “tossed the life ring to the guy.” The two men pulled Mr. Rosario toward the stern of the boat and lifted him in. “He wasn’t doing too well. Vomiting,” the captain said. “He told me he had lost his friend.” There had been a second Manhattan man on the kayak, Mr. Rosario told his rescuers. The Breakaway took him to the Coast Guard station, where he was treated for exposure by emergency medical technicans.

Meanwhile, a search began for the missing man, with the Coast Guard 47-foot rollover rescue vessel taking part. That search was soon called off, however, after someone reported spotting Carlos Espinal swimming ashore to safety, west of the Point.

“The whole thing took 15 minutes total,” Mr. Walter said. Fifteen minutes, a lot of luck, and even more skill.