Sinking Boat Beached Safely on Napeague
Training and proper equipment saved three lives Saturday evening and prevented 150 gallons of fuel from spilling into the Atlantic, according to the Coast Guard and Roy Fridenberger, the captain of a family-owned commercial fishing boat that was beached after it began to sink Saturday evening.
The captain, along with two brothers, Bret and Troy Fridenberger Jr., were making the last voyage of the season before dry-docking the boat at Inlet Seafood in Montauk for the winter. They left Montauk Harbor late Saturday afternoon, headed for Freeport on a three-day trip.
It had been a busy season, including a few days work on the set of Showtime’s “The Affair,” playing, naturally, fishermen.
At 5:21 Saturday evening, according to the East Hampton Town police event log, a report of a disabled vessel in the Atlantic was received. The 40-foot Margaret Mary, built in 1963, powered by two Cummins M11 diesel engines and in the Fridenberger family for over 30 years, was almost two miles out when an alarm sounded.
“Had we not had a proper high-water alarm, it might have been too late,” the captain said by phone Monday. The ship’s hold was taking on water faster than the two pumps onboard could get it out.
There was no panic onboard, the captain said, thanks to the many hours of training by the Coast Guard in preparation for just such a disaster. The captain made contact with the Coast Guard. “The first thing we did was change course,” he said. “The Coast Guard told us to put the boat on the beach.” The section of beach they were nearest, at Napeague State Park, is wide and sandy. There are no rocks visible to the naked eye.
On top of the threat of the boat’s sinking before they could reach the beach was the knowledge that 150 gallons of fuel they had just put into their tank could spill out into the ocean.
The men quickly donned their emergency suits over their lifejackets.
They were just able to make shore, Captain Fridenberger said, braving the six-foot waves and southeast wind. Now beached, the crew was instructed to abandon the craft. They were met on the beach by the town police, along with the New York State Park police. Marine Patrol officers brought the men to the Coast Guard station on Star Island.
Captain Fridenberger gives all the credit for their ability to beach the Margaret Mary to the Coast Guard, the police, and the training he and his brother had received.
Executive Petty Officer Dennis Heard of the Coast Guard, stationed on Star Island, said that the training system in place is voluntary. The force will send an inspector to a vessel and will instruct the crew and captain about “safety procedures if things start to go south in an emergency.”
The next day, the entire Fridenberger family was on the beach. The Margaret Mary was partially buried in sand as the ocean lapped over its deck.
According to the Coast Guard, it is the responsibility of a craft’s owners to get a boat off the beach. Captain Fridenberger began that task Sunday morning, along with his seven brothers and five sisters, most of whom live in the Mastic Beach-Shirley area.
The first thing they did was pump out the fuel tank. Then they looked to see what could be salvaged. The radar system is new. They may or may not be able to save the engines, depending on how much damage was done. They expected the boat to be taken off the beach by Wednesday.
Insurance will not cover much of the loss.
The family currently has a second boat, as yet unnamed, which they plan to outfit and put in the water sometime next year.
For Captain Fridenberger, whether or not the engines can be saved paled in comparison to two things more important: “There was no loss of life, and no spillage,” he said.