Rockport harbormasters pull woman from sea off Cathedral Rocks

Michael Cronin, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.
·1 min read

Sep. 13—ROCKPORT — The town's harbormasters were quick to rescue a woman who fell into the drink Saturday afternoon.

According to Harbormaster Rosemary Lesch, the woman slipped and landed in the ocean while traversing Cathedral Rocks around 1 p.m.

"The victim stated she tried to get back up on rocks but she couldn't," Lesch continued. "She decided it would be better to go out with surf than it was to fight it and get thrown on the rocks."

Luckily, two people were there to see the accident — a man also walking Cathedral Rocks and Tammy Murphy Hanson, who was on her boat at the time.

It's unclear which of the two called the cops, but Lesch and fellow Harbormaster Scott Story were at the scene within five minutes. Story credited the fast response time to the new rescue boat the harbormasters received in July.

"She was fully coherent when we removed her from water," he said of the woman. "We transported her to the Pigeon Cove town slope and she was met by Rockport Ambulance to get her many barnacle scrapes looked at and treated."

Murphy Hanson captured the rescue on video and posted it to the Rockport Stuff Facebook group. She could not be reached for comment at press time.

"They pulled the woman safely aboard (and) drove by with a big thumbs-up," she wrote. "Great job Rockport Harbor Master, the man on the rocks and an Angel watching over her."

Michael Cronin may be contacted at 978-675-2708, or mcronin@gloucestertimes.com.

Michael Cronin may be contacted at 978-675-2708, or mcronin@gloucestertimes.com.