Answering a call in Plymouth waters, Duxbury Harbormaster Don Beers said he and two of his assistant harbormasters, Steve Cameron and Neil Chandler, took to the water in the department’s new SafeBoat in high winds and rough waters. He said that in such severe conditions as they experienced that day, the only reason he and his staff would be on the water was to save another. That’s what made the rescue all the more remarkable to him. As they headed out, Beers said it was sheer chance he spotted the boat in his peripheral vision while responding to the other call. “On our way out by number four buoy, around 4:15, 4:30 p.m., there was a constant amount of lightening,” said Beers. “Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a shiny thing and there was a 23-foot sailboat that had capsized with two people in the area. We were probably dealing with two to three foot walled seas, the waves were straight-faced.”

Even a few days later, Beers appeared awed by the role luck had played.

“There was no distress call, they had no chance,” said Beers. “They were in the middle of Duxbury Bay, about a mile and a half from shore. It was dumb luck that we found them.”

Beers said the two men were in the water with the wind blowing about 50 mph from the north and seas roiling. Beers credits luck, a good crew and the newly-acquired SafeBoat with saving the men’s lives. The town was awarded the $180,000 boat after applying for a Homeland Security grant, in part because of its proximity to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

“There is no way I would have felt safe in any other boat,” said Beers. “It’s made especially for open water rescue. It can’t sink. It took a wave that completely filled the boat with water and it emptied in 30 seconds.”

The two men who were rescued had been out on the water in the 23-foot Sakonnat when the weather turned really bad, really fast. At the same time that Beers and his crew were saving the men in the sailboat, other members of the Harbormaster’s office responded to a 911 call for a Duxbury Bay Maritime School student sailor capsized in the Bay, a boat stalled off of Duxbury Beach’s first crossover with two elderly people who were then carried to shore by members of the Harbormaster’s office, and, according to the National Weather Service, mini-tornadoes formed off the coast of Manomet with 65 mph winds, briefly touching land with little damage to property. There were no reported injuries.

For one of the men rescued from the sailboat, a skilled sailor with years of experience who asked not to be identified, it was a sobering experience.

“We were sailing on a normal tack and the skies were getting darker,” said the man. “Within ten seconds, we were dealing with 50 knot winds. Within less than a minute, we were dealing with four to five foot seas. It was pretty amazing.”

Fortunately for the boat owner, Beers was able to help him find his boat the next day and the man had it towed in to be serviced. The man said next time, he’ll lower his sails faster and motor in if time and Mother Nature allows. Though the man feels certain he and his friend would have survived the storm out in the water, he was grateful he didn’t have to find out differently.

Said the man, “We were happy to see Don Beers.”