A Copiague family of four spent hours stranded aboard a grounded boat near the mouth of the Fire Island Inlet in Babylon early Sunday before Suffolk County Police used a hovercraft to reach them and pull them to safety. The family's 25-foot Parker boat had run aground due to low tide, leaving a 30-year-old man, his 30-year-old wife, their 2-year-old son and the child's 62-year-old grandfather stuck in shallow water until officers arrived.
The child's mother called 911 from her cellphone at 11:22 p.m. Saturday to report the boat stranded, according to Daily Voice. Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers Keith Miller and Robert King responded aboard Marine Juliet, but per Suffolk County Police, they could not get within a half-mile of the stranded boat because of the low-tide conditions.
That gap between the patrol boat and the family forced police to call in a specialized asset. Officers Rob Jenkins and James Matriciano transported Marine Hovercraft Tango to Oak Beach and deployed it to close the distance over the shallow sandbars, and the hovercraft ultimately reached the stranded family. As FOX 5 NY reported, deploying the hovercraft allowed rescuers to glide directly over the shallow sandbars that had physically blocked the deep-draft patrol boat from approaching.
Toddler Treated for Minor Injuries
Officers began removing the family from the boat at 1:52 a.m. Sunday. The 2-year-old boy was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip and received treatment for minor injuries, while the other family members were not reported to have been hurt. The rest of the family was taken to the New York State Boat Basin once the rescue was complete. Suffolk County Police announced the rescue on Sunday, August 23.
Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip houses the only dedicated pediatric emergency department and verified Level II pediatric trauma center on Long Island's South Shore, according to Catholic Health, a detail that helps explain why the toddler was routed there rather than a closer facility. The hospital's emergency department treats more than 20,000 pediatric patient visits a year, per the same source.
Shifting Sandbars a Recurring Hazard Near the Inlet
The grounding highlights a persistent problem along this stretch of Long Island's south shore. Dynamic sand shoaling near the region's inlets frequently causes marked navigation channels to diverge from real-time safe water depths, according to a report by The Fisherman, creating hazards for boaters who rely on static GPS tracks that don't reflect shifting sandbars. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains Fire Island Inlet as a federal navigation channel through periodic maintenance dredging, clearing shoaled sand and using the dredged material to re-nourish eroded beaches like Gilgo Beach.
The Suffolk County Police Department's Marine Bureau patrols roughly 500 square miles of navigable waterways across Long Island, the scope of an operation that relies on both traditional patrol boats and hovercraft to handle varied aquatic terrain, per a May 2025 News12 report. Police ramp up maritime patrols on summer weekends, when as many as 70,000 visitors gather across Long Island's barrier beaches and surrounding waters, according to the same report.
Second Water Emergency Near the Inlet This Month
This is not the first serious water emergency near Fire Island Inlet this month. Two weeks earlier, Hoodline reported that a 58-year-old boater died at Captree State Park after his 16-foot boat repeatedly struck a dock and flipped near the intersection of Great South Bay and Fire Island Inlet. Days before that, Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued five people from a sinking 17-foot boat in Long Island Sound after it took on water during the evening, with all five safely removed before the vessel went under.
The rescues also come as New York enforces Brianna's Law, which as of January 1, 2025, requires all operators of motorized vessels on state waters to hold a state-approved Boating Safety Certificate regardless of age or prior experience, according to Boat Ed. The law is named for 11-year-old Brianna Lieneck of Deer Park, who died in a 2005 boating accident in Great South Bay involving a vessel returning from Fire Island; her mother advocated for 14 years before state lawmakers passed the mandatory boater education legislation in 2019.
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