Vodka cork used to save sinking boat

After limping into port, the skipper of a sinking motor boat was thrown a vodka cork found on the dock and used it to plug the hole in his vessel.

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Joseph Lehr and his two friends were cruising off Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York City on 30 May when their 30 foot Bayliner starting taking on water.

The vessel’s drain plug had come loose and disappeared.

The crew started using a bilge pump to try and clear the water, and contacted the emergency services.

“We plugged it with a shaft of metal, which kind of stopped it. But the water was still coming in,’’ Lehr’s friend Michael Clapman told The New York Post.

“We tried everything, plugging it with socks and other pieces of cloth, but nothing worked,” he said.

Rescue crews assisted the sinking boat to a nearby dock, where a vodka cork was found by a member of the public. It was thrown to Lehr who then decided to use it to plug the hole.

Once the vodka cork was in place and the water pumped out, crews from the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) helped the trio restart their boat.

They were then escorted to Inwood Marina.

“Thankfully, the alcohol saved the day!’’ Clapman said.

“A lot of credit goes to the FDNY and the NYPD, they were really helpful,” Clapman added. “The response time was unbelievable, they had a chopper there within a minute.”