The boaters and their dog were all rescued, but hopefully they’ve learned a lesson or two. Photos: Facebook//Screenshot
Two people and dog were rescued by a pair of fisherman and a surfer after a boat capsized off Palm Beach Shores, Florida.
According to reports, a AJ Castronovo was surfing when he saw the boat flip right in front of him.
“The second wave came; it was bigger, already breaking, and unfortunately, I noticed there was a boat,” Castronovo told reporters. “It was right in front of the wave. That wave came and just absolutely rolled the boat over on its side. Both people were ejected from the boat.”
That meant, of course, that it wasn’t just the people from the boat who were in trouble. Castronovo was in the water very close to an unpiloted vessel. He knew he had to help, though, so he put his head down and began to paddle towards them.
“This boat is now coming at me. I figured this is about it for me,” he continued. “The boat is coming at me sideways, another wave behind it, nowhere for me to go.”
Luckily, Castronovo managed to swim beneath the boat, which was upside down. Once he came up on the other side, he found the two people he saw hit the water. He dragged them out, put them on his surfboard, and began to attempt to paddle them back to shore. That’s when Chad Smith and his son, who were fishing nearby, arrived on their boat.
Castronovo and the Smiths worked together to get the man and the woman aboard Smith’s boat. “Chad Smith came up like he’s done it 100 times,” Castronovo said. “He starts pulling away, and we hear another surfer saying, ‘Hey, hey, what’s going on?’ He lifts his hand up in the air and says, ‘I got the dog.'”
As it turned out, the second surfer found the little wet animal paddling desperately around. Thankfully, the dog was fine, if not a little worse for wear.
Authorities say that both victims were taken to the hospital after the ordeal and are expected to recover.
