Falmouth police are warning residents about water safety Thursday after they say three teenagers in a small rowboat were blown by the wind more than a half mile from land.
The teens were “overpowered by the wind and could not get back to shore,” the police said in a Facebook post.
“The juveniles had no life jackets and were being blown further away from safety quickly,” the post read, in part.
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A nearby fisherman saw that they were in trouble and alerted a member of the police’s Marine Unit, “who, by nothing more than chance, was at the facility doing operation checks,” police said.
The Falmouth police said they’re not yet doing regular boat patrols, because it’s too early in the season for much boat traffic, so the presence of a Marine Unit rescuer on-duty was “sheer luck.”
Police towed the teens to safety, but “this could have ended very differently,” they said, reminding residents that although it was sunny out, the water temperature remains in the low 40s. In water that cold, it takes less than 20 minutes for hypothermia to set in, they said, adding that anyone on any vessel on the water is required to have a personal flotation device with them.
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