2 Boaters Rescued from So-Called 'Circle of Death' After Being Ejected from Fishing Vessel

Two boaters who were not wearing life jackets were thrown from their vessel and into a "circle of death", later being saved by rescue crews

Photo: Marshfield Police Department

Two Massachusetts boaters are safe after being thrown from their 24-foot boat and facing a "circle of death" without life jackets, local police said.

On Tuesday, Captain Dana Blackman, the Captain of the Fishing Vessel Finest Kind, alerted the Marshfield Harbormaster that the Center Console boat was "circling at a high rate of speed" at a buoy in Farnham Rock, Marshfield Police said in a release.

Captain Blackman also told the harbormaster that they had "just pulled two males from the water after seeing the vessel in a circling pattern" after "one of the boaters was seen "waving a white T-shirt" from inside the water."

Police said the boaters were thrown from the vessel and did not have on lifejackets. They were also not harnessed to a "vessel kill switch." The boat continued to swerve in a "tight circle pattern," a.k.a. the "Circle of Death."

The boaters were not injured in the incident, per the release.

A video shared by the Marshfield Police Department on Facebook shows the white boat circling in the water while a rescue boat attempts to move closer.

Because "the vessel was on a westerly track in a tight high-speed circular pattern tracking towards Green Harbor & Brant Rock," a nearby beach was temporarily shut down and Marshfield police enforced a one-mile security area "in case the vessel's direction rapidly changed," the release added.

Marine assistance company Sea Tow managed to get the boat under control 90 minutes later by "using a nylon tow line," police said.

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They noted that the scary incident should serve as a "stark reminder" of how quickly things can happen "on the water without notice."

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Police went on to "urge the use of life jackets and tethering of the vessel safety kill switch," adding that "These incidents can happen to the most experienced mariners."