Long Island, NY - January 8, 2015 - Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued a stranded duck hunter from an island in the Great South Bay, near the entrance to the Connetquot River.
Christopher Rowlinson, 20, of Great River, paddled his canoe to Nicoll Island to hunt ducks. When he attempted to return to shore after sunset, he was unable to paddle into the strong winds and ice that had formed on the river. He called his family with his cell phone, who then called 911.
Police Officers Charles Marchiselli, Edmund McDowell, Christopher DeFeo and Sgt. John Vahey, aboard patrol vessel Marine Kilo, were dispatched for the search and rescue mission. Officer McDowell made cell phone contact with Rowlinson while en route to the island and instructed him to use the flashlight feature on his cell phone to signal the approaching rescuers. Rowlinson was located at 5:55 p.m. and transported safely to shore aboard the police vessel, with his canoe in tow. He was uninjured.
At the time of the rescue, winds were gusting to 40 mph, and the temperature was 18 degrees with a wind chill of index of -4 degrees in freezing spray.
