'We're So Weak,' Lobsterman Says When Pulled From Harbor

In the nick of time, the Boston Police Department's harbor patrol unit rescued a 76-year-old man and his son who were desperately clinging to a cooler at the outermost edge of Boston Harbor after their lobster boat sank. Officers Stephen Merrick and Garrett Boyle responded to a call for a boat taking on water around 6:30pm Wednesday near Graves Light Station, police said in a statement. The privately owned lighthouse is on a rocky islet about 9 miles from the coast, per the AP. On approach, the officers only saw a small portion of the vessel Glory Days' bow above water, but as they got closer they saw the two men holding on to the bobbing blue cooler.

"You could see the fear in their face," Merrick said. "They were cold. They looked very tired." The dramatic rescue was caught on police body camera video. "We're so weak," the younger man is heard saying. He then asked the officers to rescue his father, who was wearing a life vest. "Help him up please," he said. "Help him up first." The son, who was holding onto a life ring, was then pulled onto the police boat by the officers. The men said their boat’s 28-foot engine became tangled in lobster lines and failed. The current pushed the boat onto the rocks and punctured the hull, police said. The men were treated by emergency medical technicians for minor injuries on the shore.

(More rescue stories.)