A boat owner nearly went down with his ship Friday night after his 43-foot yacht struck a rock off the coast of Queens and sank into the East River.
Police say the owner and operator of the boat had shoved off from Atlantic City on his way home to Mamaroneck in Westchester when he hit a rock off of College Point near LaGuardia Airport.
He was disoriented after the impact and initially gave the Coast Guard the wrong coordinates for his location.
But the NYPD’s Harbor Patrol was in the vicinity and reached him just as the boat was slipping below the surface.
“The boat sank before our very eyes,” said Detective Jeff Haas of the Harbor Patrol. “He knows how lucky he was. Of course he was mad at himself, but a momentary indiscretion on the north shore means you hit a rock.”
The pilot was the only person on board, and was treated at the scene for minor hypothermia after jumping into the 53-degree water.
“It’s a very rocky, unforgiving environment,” Haas said. “The timing was very dramatic. He only would have lasted a few minutes in the cold water at night. He didn’t give the Coast Guard the right address either, he’s lucky we were already in the area.”