By Erin Rhoda
The Morning Sentinel
MERCER, Maine — Two men needed rescue Sunday from North Pond when their boat started sinking.
A 23- and 26-year-old were in their paddle boat on a sunny Sunday when it started taking on water, Norridgewock Fire Chief Dave Jones said. He did not know the men’s names.
They called 911 on a cell phone and then got in the water and held onto the boat, Jones said.
They reasoned that “With less weight, they might stand a better chance of floating,” he said.
The men had no life preservers.
The wind was “pretty wild,” Jones said, and there were whitecaps on the lake. The two were in the water, floating toward Pine Tree Camp in Rome, for between 30 and 45 minutes.
Smithfield and Norridgewock fire and rescue crews found the two clutching the side of their boat, half a mile from shore.
They were located about a mile from the Mercer shore, where they had launched the boat, Jones said.
Rescue workers took them to the mainland by boat. They then went home.
“Everything worked out fine in the end. They got a little cold, but they didn’t have to go to the hospital,” Jones said.
The Maine Warden Service also responded.
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