Despite the heroic effort, one of the victims later died
Detective Stacey Spirn and Officer Tim Temperato were presented with the Manalapan Police Department’s Lifesaving Award on Oct. 29 by Police Chief Jeff Rasor (center) for helping pull two men from rough waters after their boat had capsized. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
Manalapan Police Officer Tim Temperato and Detective Stacey Spirn hadn’t planned on taking the department’s 25-foot boat out that Sunday morning in late September given the ocean’s rough seas the previous few days.
But then came the call of a possible capsized boat just outside the Boynton Inlet and they knew they had to go despite treacherous conditions.
“The inlet was bad as I’d ever seen it,” said Temperato, who piloted the boat through 8- to 10-foot waves on Sept. 27 responding to the call. “Once we got to the ocean, it was a lot worse than we anticipated.”
The pair was able to reach the capsized 19-foot Boston Whaler and find two men clinging to it but couldn’t get close enough to pull them out of the water. Instead, Spirn threw a lifesaving ring 15 feet that was clutched by one of the boaters, helping them stay afloat.
A few minutes later Palm Beach County Fire Rescue crews on jet skis pulled the men out of the water and got the driver, identified as 80-year-old Powell “Pete” Thomas, to the hospital where he died. His 39-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries.
At one point, Temperato and Spirn came close to needing help as well.
“We almost capsized ourselves,” said Temperato, an experienced boater assigned to marine patrol on weekends. “There were many times when I thought, ‘This was a bad idea.’”
For their efforts and their determination to get to the overturned boat despite the dangerous conditions, Temperato and Spirn were presented with the Manalapan Police Department’s Lifesaving Award on Oct. 29.
“They did an amazing job,” said Police Chief Jeff Rasor. “They acted heroically and bravely.”
According to a report from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers who investigated the incident, as well as a video made by a witness on the inlet jetty, the Boston Whaler had cleared the inlet and turned south when it got through one high wave.
Thomas, a Vietnam War veteran who was described in an obituary as avid fisherman, tried to keep the boat afloat when it was struck by a second wave and capsized.
When Temperato and Spirn reached the boat a short time after a 911 call, they found the passenger clinging to the engine with one arm and holding Thomas with the other while shouting, “Help my friend.”
Temperato said they circled the capsized boat several times but were afraid to get too close for fear of hitting the Boston Whaler or the men in the water.
“It was just so difficult to control the boat,” he said.
Once the men on the capsized boat were out of the water, Temperato and Spirn headed back to the dock on the Intracoastal Waterway but had to navigate the rough waters in the inlet.
They made two attempts before finally getting through, at one point thinking about going south to the Boca Inlet instead.
Temperato said that having Spirn on board was invaluable in keeping the police boat afloat. She grew up boating mostly on lakes and is assigned to help him when needed. The fact that she was a softball pitcher helped her get the lifesaving ring to the boater on the first try.
“There’s no way I could have done this without her,” Temperato said.
The inlet is considered one of the most treacherous in South Florida, in large part because it is narrow and because of nearby ocean sandbars.
“If you add in a large swell and large winds, it can be even more dangerous,” said Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Tom Reyes.
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