During a special presentation at the 2024 Maine Fishermen’s Forum, the Cape Elizabeth Fire Department’s Water Extrication Team (WET) was recognized for its dramatic rescue of the crew from the Maine fishing vessel Tara Lynn II.

In the early hours of January 13, 2024, a May Day call was broadcast from the Tara Lynn II, a 49- foot fishing trawler that had been wrecked on the rocks of Trundy Point in Cape Elizabeth. Four people were trapped on board.

The weather conditions were harrowing with winds gusting to 50 mph and 6-foot waves crashing around the trawler, according to a news release.

Parker Poole, of Determination Marine, heard the distress call from the trawler, contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and the WET, and piloted his tow vessel towards the trawler in hopes of hauling it off the rocks.

Lieutenant Nate Perry and rescue swimmer Harun Laleli from the WET boarded a 10-foot inflatable rescue boat and pushed off while an historic storm battered the trawler and the Maine coast. The weather conditions were so severe that it required several attempts to reach the grounded trawler and Perry was briefly tossed from the inflatable, but quickly recovered. The inflatable could not safely hold all four crew members at the same time, so Perry and Laleli brought two to shore, and Perry set out again with rescue swimmer Eric Laszlo to rescue the remaining crew.

Thanks to the safety training and heroic response of the WET, all four crew members were returned to shore unharmed. It was not possible to salvage the trawler. 

The Maine Fishermen’s Forum invited rescuers from the WET to the dinner banquet at the Samoset Resort where the fishing community extended its appreciation for the rescue.

Hank Soule, President of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum said: “We are grateful for these brave and highly skilled individuals. On behalf of the Forum and the entire Maine fishing community, we thank them for their extraordinary courage and commitment to the successful rescue of the crew of the Tara Lynn II.”