Bald Head Cliff in York rises in the background in this view in January from Wells Beach. The large building in the background is the Cliff House. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
A boat crew pulling lobster traps off the coast of York on Monday rescued a fisherman who had fallen from a cliff and was clinging to a buoy.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was fishing from Bald Head Cliff with another person around 8 a.m. when he slipped and fell into the water. The tide was low at the time, making the rocks in the area “really, really slippery,” said York Beach Fire Capt. David Osgood.
As rescue crews raced to the scene, his companion called for help and told dispatchers that the man was trying to swim to a nearby lobster buoy. When the fire department arrived on scene, the man was in the water 30 to 50 feet offshore and clinging to the buoy.
The fire department contacted a nearby lobster boat using marine radio channels and the boat was able to get to the man before rescue crews. The boat’s crew pulled the man aboard and brought him to an Ogunquit rescue boat.
The quick response by the crew on the lobster boat – identified by officials as Mystery, based out of Perkins Cove – saved the man from becoming hypothermic or drowning, according to the fire department.
“They just happened to be there pulling traps,” Osgood said. “They were in the right place at the right time for us.”
The man was taken by the Ogunquit rescue boat to Perkins Cove, where he was evaluated by Ogunquit Rescue. No other information about the man was available from fire and rescue officials.
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