Children, Man Rescued from Water Off East Marion By Men, Boy, 8

EAST MARION, NY - John Agosta may be only eight years old, but his quick thinking helped save a man and two children during a daring East Marion water rescue Wednesday night.

According to Southold Town Police,the rescue took place at 7:45 p.m. in Peconic Bay off Shipyard Lane when Gerlin Polanco, 36, of Westbury said he was returning from a fishing trip with his two children, a son, 9, and a daughter, 5, when his 20-foot boat began taking on water to the stern.

Polanca said he lost power in the engine and the vessel eventualy capsized from the water it took on. Salvatore Agosta of East Marion heard the subjects screaming in the water and contacted the police.

Southold Town Police responded to the scene; the United States.Coast Guard, Southold Town Police's marine division and the East Marion Fire Department's marine unit also were advised and responded, police said.

Agosta responded in his own boat and pulled all three subjects from the water and transported them to Klipp Park in Greenport, police said.

The subjects were transported from there by East Marion Fire Department Rescue to Eastern Long Island Hospital for evaluation, police said. The vessel was towed by Douglas Marine, police said.

According to East Marion resident Linda Goldsmith, her son-in-laws Agosta and Kevin Quarty were walking on the beach at the end of Shipyard Lane, toward Maple Lane at about 8 p.m. where Agosta moors his boat, when John, who had been walking ahead of the adults, came back and told his father that he heard screaming in the water.

The trio saw a boat sinking out in the water and sprang into action, she said, jumping into Agosta's boat and heading to the rescue. They threw a rope out to the stranded group and pulled them out of the water, Goldsmith said.

The three had been in the water about 20 minutes, Goldsmith said. When they got to shore, ambulances were waiting at the scene.

Her grandson, Goldsmith said, is "so excited, because he saved someone."

As for her son-in-law Agosta, Goldsmith said it's not the first time he's rescued someone stranded; he saved a child from drowning in a swimming pool once and also rescued someone who'd fallen off a dock in East Hampton, she said.

The stars were aligned for the save, Goldsmith said; if they'd had her other grandson, 4, or their new puppy, it wouldn't have been as easy to just jump into the boat and head to the rescue. "It was a good set of circumstances," she said.