Two rescued after boat capsizes in Fort Pierce inlet

A post-holiday fishing trip would have turned tragic for two Fort Pierce men, if not for a good Samaritan.

 

Talk to any boater, and they'll tell you this can be a tricky spot to navigate. It turned out to be too much Monday morning for a Fort Pierce father and son.

 

One look outside Roberto Robinson's home and you can tell he loves to fish.  There are rods and reels everywhere.

 

Monday morning, he and his father took their boat out of the Fort Pierce Inlet. The seas were a bit rough, and after a while they decided to head back in. They took 2 waves head on.. then a third.

 

"One lifted the back end of the boat up and tilted the front end down and started taking on water and in a couple seconds, we were capsized," said the younger Robinson.

 

Both men found themselves under the boat, underwater. A number of fishermen on the jetty saw what was happening and called 9-1-1.

 

 "They were coming in fast and when they hit the whitewater, they slowed down too and the front of the boat went into the water and they started hollering and screaming and they flipped over," said Bill Richard.

 

Fortunately for the Robinsons, Clay Cordary was fishing in the water not far away.

 

"When it capsized, they were underneath there for a good 10 seconds," said Cordary.

 

The commercial fisherman said he just reacted, racing over to help.

 

"They were holding on to the side of the boat and it was real rough where they were and I got up next to them and got a hold of them and put them in the boat," said Cordary.

 

The rough water had pulled the boat about half a mile out to sea from the inlet.  It was finally towed back to shore early in the afternoon.

 

The Robinsons were not hurt, their pride a bit wounded perhaps, but they say it's a reminder for all experienced fishermen to be careful around the inlet.