STUART, Fla. — A man trying to secure his boat in windy conditions fell into the water at Hosford Park in Stuart and personnel were working late into the night to find him, the Martin County Sheriff's Office and Martin County Fire Rescue said Tuesday night.
The man's wife called 911 just before 5 p.m., Martin County Fire Rescue spokesman Cory Pippin told WPTV. The elderly couple were out on a boat and it’s unclear if they were trying to dock. The man was trying to grab the rope and slipped into the water, Pippin said.
The county park is located near Cove and South Kanner Highway.
Rescue boats were searching for the man late in the night and plan to return early in the morning.
Four divers searched for about two hours but conditions were unsafe in the dark because of the current, trees and alligators.
“This is brackish water here," John Budensiek, chief deputy of the Martin County Sheriff's Office, told WPTV reporter Cassandra Garcia. "Extremely dark water. This one of our oldest boat ramps in Martin County and there’s a lot of anomalies at the bottom of this water.
"You know alligators when it’s cooler like this will tend to lay at the bottom and hunt that way so it’s extremely dangerous for our fire rescue brothers and sisters that we’re down there trying to do rescue efforts."
An alligator was spotted at the bottom.
He added wind conditions also are making it more difficult.
The sheriff's office is running side scan sonar and dragging the area with their hooks from the boat.