A quick-thinking boater saved his sinking ship Monday by plugging a hole in his vessel with a cork from a vodka bottle.
Joseph Lehr and his two buddies were cruising in a 30-foot Bayliner in the water off Rockaway Beach near Beach 113th Street in Queens when their boat started taking on water about 200 yards from the shore.
A bilge pump was clearing the water, but not fast enough. That’s when Joseph Lehr dove into the water and got creative.
“I used a cork from the bottle,” Lehr said, shirtless and dripping wet after the unexpected adventure.
Lehr suffered a few bumps and bruises in the ordeal, but declined a trip to the hospital.
Crews from the FDNY and NYPD helped them restart the boat and escorted them back to shore to make sure the makeshift plug held.
“He saved us all,” said Lehr’s buddy, Michael Clapman. “We would have never made it if he didn’t do that.”
