Coast Guard saves 6-yr-old and father after thrown off boat

Large waves rocked a boat with four people on it at the Fort Pierce Inlet  just before noon Sunday.

Video recorded by the U.S. Coast Guard showed the rough surf that caused problems for the boat that nearly capsized.

"It was a smaller vessel and large waves and seas in the inlet strong outgoing tide and the vessel was a little too small for the waves," Jeffrey Vasseur of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Vasseur estimates the waves on the Fort Pierce inlet around 11:30 Sunday morning were as high as 9 feet.

"The waves were crashing over the bow of our boat," Raymond Concepcion of the U.S. Coast Guard said. "We kind of just got close enough. We kind of got lucky."

Concepcion was lucky enough to pull up a father and his six-year-old boy.  Both of them were thrown into the water because of the waves.

"(The kid) was frantic when we initially got on scene," Concepcion said. "He was screaming and yelling that he had to get off the boat. He wanted to get on our boat."

The water filled up half of the boat almost capsizing it, Vasseur said.  

It sent others on board jumping off of it.

"When we got up to them they just had fear in their eyes," Concepcion said. "They were scared."

Vasseur grabbed one of them to safety.

"I was able to put my arm out my cabin door and grab him while still trying steer the boat safely without hitting anybody," he said. "I've never done that before," Concepcion said. "Just knowing that I also have a six-year-old and seeing a six-year-old out there and saving his life, it kind of hits home."

The child was the only one on board wearing a life jacket.

The Coast Guard urges everyone on a boat to have safety equipment.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.