Girl trapped under capsized boat off Barnegat ready to sail again

BARNEGAT LIGHT — The owner of a boat that capsized Sunday afternoon said his wife and daughter are ready to hit the water again after getting trapped in a rapidly shrinking air bubble under the vessel.

It was Jarret Krause's wife, 26, and 4-year-old daughter that wound up under the hull for about 25 minutes after their boat capsized 7 p.m. Sunday. They were rescued by Barnegat Light firefighter Bob Selfridge who dove under and pulled them to safety.

"It really happened out of nowhere so quick there was no time to prepare," Krause said.

Krause, 23, his wife and daughter plus a friend and his 13-year-old daughter decided to do some fishing in Barnegat Inlet late Sunday afternoon. They were drifting from one end of the inlet to the other catching some fish and got close to the rocks along the inlet.

"That's when it all happened. My motor tapped the rocks but I didn't think anything was going to happen. I ended up starting the boat and saw water on my deck. At that point I looked back and see my bilge pumping out," Kraus said. "I guess I panicked and throttled up a little too hard and rocked again."

The Browns Mills resident said he felt the boat go up in the air and then to the side.

"I remember yelling to a boat in front of me to call the Coast Guard so I could get everybody on board to a rescue. Within a minute everything was gone," Krause said.

U.S. Coast Guard rescue off Barnegat Light 8/7/22 (OCSN)

Knocking on the hull

Krause said he was holding onto the wheel one moment and the next he's holding onto the boat so he wouldn't drift away. He grabbed the hook used to pull the boat onto a trailer and grabbed his friend's daughter so she was safe. Then he knocked on the boat.

"My wife was in there with my kid. She started knocking back so that was a good sign," Krause. "I had my phone and it still worked somehow. I was able to feel a little better being on the phone with my wife the whole time while she was in there."

It took minutes for help to arrive as they were near the Coast Guard station.

The boat is a loss as it was upside down too long hitting the rocks but he hopes to salvage the motor.

"The top part of the boat, which was supposed to be out of the water, got all beat up," Krause said.

His daughter is ready for another boating trip.

"As soon as everything was done she said to me 'daddy are we going to get another boat' and I said to her 'yeah, don't worry. I'm not going to let one accident stop me from doing what I love.' And I love to fish and being out on the boat," Krauser said.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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