2 Rescued From Overturned Sailboat On Cape Cod

Mashpee Department of Natural Resources crews respond to an overturned sailboat in Popponesset Bay. (Mashpee DNR Photo)

Two men who were found clinging to their overturned sailboat in Popponesset Bay were rescued on Friday.

Masspee Harbormaster’s boat respond to an overturned sailboat in Popponesset Bay. (Mashpee DNR Photo)

According to town officials in Mashpee, Massachusetts, the Mashpee Department of Natural Resources (DNR) received a report of a capsized vessel with two people in the water at 2:40 p.m. on Friday, April 18.

DNR personnel responded to the area near Gooseberry Island in Popponesset Bay, where they found two men clinging to an overturned sailboat.

The two men, both estimated by officials to be approximately 70 years in age, had been in the water for roughly 20 to 25 minutes.

They were brought onboard the DNR boat and taken to the Ockway Bay boat ramp, where Mashpee Fire Department paramedics conducted medical evaluations for cold water exposure.

Both men were wearing life jackets when they were recovered.

Officials said the incident underscores the continued risk cold water poses to mariners, even as air temperatures begin to rise. Surface water temperatures in Popponesset Bay remain in the upper 40s — a range where hypothermia can develop rapidly and impair the ability to self-rescue.

Officials said the fact both men were wearing PFDs at the time of the incident significantly increased their chances of survival and contributed to a successful rescue.