ADDISON, Maine — An individual was pulled Saturday afternoon from Eastern Harbor just north of Otter Cove, according to a dispatcher with the Maine State Police in Orono.
The male, whose name or exact age was not available Saturday afternoon, is an Addison resident in his 40s, according to Richard Moore, day shift supervisor with the Washington County Regional Communication Center.
“The subject was going out to tend his boat, which was on a mooring, [and] with the storm coming in, people want to get things tidied up,” Moore said. “He was in a small skiff and we don’t know how, but he wound up in the water in excess of 30 minutes.”
The man was heading out from the boat landing off Moose Neck Road just before 3 p.m.
Fortunately, several other people were in the area tending to their own boats and saw the man go in, Moore said.
“There were enough of them on hand to get him out,” he said.
According to the dispatcher in Orono, five individuals helped rescue the man.
Moosabec Ambulance Service responded and the man was on his way to Downeast Community Hospital where an emergency room staff member late Saturday afternoon said they were aware someone had fallen into the water and was coming in by ambulance.
Conditions in the harbor were fairly calm at the time of the accident, Moore said, with light flurries.
The air temperature Saturday afternoon in Machias was around 15 degrees and Moore said the water temperature in Eastern Harbor was probably near 40 degrees.
“I’m not sure if he had foul weather or survival gear on,” Moore said. “I was told he was in reasonable shape when they pulled him out [and] he’s doing good if that’s the case after being in [the water] for 30 minutes.”
Moore’s department did put out calls to the marine patrol and U.S. Coast Guard, but said the incident was over before they had time to get underway.
