Rescues were prevalent on Atlantic City's beaches.
Some were routine, others serious and the rest, downright dangerous.
The following is an example of just such a rescue.
We had been keeping tabs on some French Canadians, who had come to an area of the beach we had moved other bathers away from.
This move came about as a result of a heavy Nor'east wind driving strong currents toward the Million Dollar Pier.
The French Canadians consisted of two men and four women.
We were just getting ready to go tell them to move to the safe area, when suddenly the four girls yelling like banshees broke and dashed for the ocean.
They were heading straight for the danger area.
We sprinted for the boat and launched it off it's rollers, me in the bow and Tommy in the stern.
We rowed at a dangerous angle, the waves pounding us on the port side while being soaked from the resulting spray.
It was difficult keeping our bow into the wind.
Every time we'd gain momentum, we'd get hit again.
We feared capsizing with every stroke.
As I turned to assess the situation, it was already worse than I feared.
Two of the girls had recklessly abandoned any caution and had moved headlong into the offset (undertow).
The offset was tossing the four girls wildly about.
The choppy seas lapped their heads causing them to disappear beneath the surf, only to resurface arms and legs flailing frantically.
The two men had followed the girls, but were not yet themselves in trouble.
When they became aware of the girl's distress, they raced to their rescue.
The two were good swimmers, but, as they would soon learn, no match for the wrath of this angry maelstrom.
Brave, but foolhardy, the men swam into the set, realizing quickly they were now part of the problem.
We saw the panic in their body language similar to a scene from Jaws.
A look of panic came over their faces as the reality of their situation sank in.
The two realized they had made a big mistake and were floundering badly as the deadly offset took control.
Tommy and I saw what was coming instantly.
It played out before our eyes like a bad horror flick as we realized we had a second rescue on our hands.
We kept moving with the force and speed necessary to overtake them.
We heard the girls cries of "Oh God, please help me!" Maneuvering as best we could, we battled the heavy surf feeling the spray wash over the boat, soaking us with every stroke.
Fatigue was setting in but if we were to execute this rescue we had to stay focused.
We rowed as hard and fast as we could into this perilous situation.
Turning to take my last bearing I spotted the four panic-stricken victims whose repeated cries of "Oh God, oh God!" could still be heard above the high winds.
The four were separated into pairs about forty feet apart.
We decided to go after the farthest two girls first, because they were closest to the pier.
As we passed within close proximity Tommy stood, braced himself, and threw the donut.
They caught it and held on as he reeled them in.
Locking on to the stern sheet in a death grip, the girls would not let go.
Tommy, knowing our situation was getting desperate, reached down over the gunnel, grabbed the first girl by the seat of her bathing suit and hoisted her into the boat.
He repeated this maneuver with the second girl.
As we rowed to intercept the second two girls, their momentum carried them alongside the boat.
We had hoped to rescue them by maneuvering them to the stern where the first two were already in the boat.
Unfortunately, we had gotten too close.
One of the girls grabbed the gunnels between the tholepins, shutting down our ability to row.
The second girl latched on to another part of the gunnel further impeding our progress.
The two men were still upwind of us and closing fast.
I abandoned my oars and moved quickly to the bow where there was another donut.
This left the boat dangerously unattended and subject to the whims of the sea.
As they drew near, I tossed the donut which they both latched on to.
When they reached the boat they grabbed the bow.
Now we had four people holding on to the boats gunnels, making it impossible to get them all on board before we reached the pier.
We decided to take the drastic measure of turning the boat over and sinking it.
The reason for this is because we were moving so rapidly toward the pier, we would have been dashed into the heavily barnacle laden pilings.
By sinking the boat, it becomes a much heavier vessel slowing it's momentum significantly.
Once over, we all climbed on to the underbelly and held tightly as we approached the pier.
As we were carried under the pier a black cloud passed overhead, blotting out the sun.
Was this an omen? The next instant unfolded like a slow motion picture.
I saw the boat being lifted by a ground swell and realized I was caught between it and some pilings.
The boat descended on me.
At the last second, as it was about to crash into my head I ducked under.
I could feel the concussion of the boat hitting the piling, missing me by inches.
I surfaced and Tommy and I maneuvered the boat through the pilings while the six terror stricken victims looked on in horror.
Seeing the sunlight getting closer from the other side calmed them.
knowing we were almost through.
As we emerged, the guards on that side spotted us and dashed to our rescue.
Two boats reached us in no time putting three victims each into their crafts.
Tommy and I swam our boat to shallow water and emptied it..
As we made ready to go back to our station a large portion of the crowd still lingered.
It was always the same after a dramatic rescue.
The Canadians we had rescued were long gone, as was always the case.
Once the boat had hit shore and the embarrassed six were helped out, they disappeared quicker than a magician's assistant.
The crowd must have thought they'd been cheated.
After witnessing this melodrama, and in some cases having followed it for a few blocks to its conclusion, they were not ready to have it end so abruptly.
I always felt they wanted us to address them with a critique of the rescue, putting aside the fact they had just watched the entire event for themselves.
From our prospective rescues were so common that at times we probably exuded an air of indifference.
Regardless, it always took the crowd a while to disperse.
Some were routine, others serious and the rest, downright dangerous.
The following is an example of just such a rescue.
We had been keeping tabs on some French Canadians, who had come to an area of the beach we had moved other bathers away from.
This move came about as a result of a heavy Nor'east wind driving strong currents toward the Million Dollar Pier.
The French Canadians consisted of two men and four women.
We were just getting ready to go tell them to move to the safe area, when suddenly the four girls yelling like banshees broke and dashed for the ocean.
They were heading straight for the danger area.
We sprinted for the boat and launched it off it's rollers, me in the bow and Tommy in the stern.
We rowed at a dangerous angle, the waves pounding us on the port side while being soaked from the resulting spray.
It was difficult keeping our bow into the wind.
Every time we'd gain momentum, we'd get hit again.
We feared capsizing with every stroke.
As I turned to assess the situation, it was already worse than I feared.
Two of the girls had recklessly abandoned any caution and had moved headlong into the offset (undertow).
The offset was tossing the four girls wildly about.
The choppy seas lapped their heads causing them to disappear beneath the surf, only to resurface arms and legs flailing frantically.
The two men had followed the girls, but were not yet themselves in trouble.
When they became aware of the girl's distress, they raced to their rescue.
The two were good swimmers, but, as they would soon learn, no match for the wrath of this angry maelstrom.
Brave, but foolhardy, the men swam into the set, realizing quickly they were now part of the problem.
We saw the panic in their body language similar to a scene from Jaws.
A look of panic came over their faces as the reality of their situation sank in.
The two realized they had made a big mistake and were floundering badly as the deadly offset took control.
Tommy and I saw what was coming instantly.
It played out before our eyes like a bad horror flick as we realized we had a second rescue on our hands.
We kept moving with the force and speed necessary to overtake them.
We heard the girls cries of "Oh God, please help me!" Maneuvering as best we could, we battled the heavy surf feeling the spray wash over the boat, soaking us with every stroke.
Fatigue was setting in but if we were to execute this rescue we had to stay focused.
We rowed as hard and fast as we could into this perilous situation.
Turning to take my last bearing I spotted the four panic-stricken victims whose repeated cries of "Oh God, oh God!" could still be heard above the high winds.
The four were separated into pairs about forty feet apart.
We decided to go after the farthest two girls first, because they were closest to the pier.
As we passed within close proximity Tommy stood, braced himself, and threw the donut.
They caught it and held on as he reeled them in.
Locking on to the stern sheet in a death grip, the girls would not let go.
Tommy, knowing our situation was getting desperate, reached down over the gunnel, grabbed the first girl by the seat of her bathing suit and hoisted her into the boat.
He repeated this maneuver with the second girl.
As we rowed to intercept the second two girls, their momentum carried them alongside the boat.
We had hoped to rescue them by maneuvering them to the stern where the first two were already in the boat.
Unfortunately, we had gotten too close.
One of the girls grabbed the gunnels between the tholepins, shutting down our ability to row.
The second girl latched on to another part of the gunnel further impeding our progress.
The two men were still upwind of us and closing fast.
I abandoned my oars and moved quickly to the bow where there was another donut.
This left the boat dangerously unattended and subject to the whims of the sea.
As they drew near, I tossed the donut which they both latched on to.
When they reached the boat they grabbed the bow.
Now we had four people holding on to the boats gunnels, making it impossible to get them all on board before we reached the pier.
We decided to take the drastic measure of turning the boat over and sinking it.
The reason for this is because we were moving so rapidly toward the pier, we would have been dashed into the heavily barnacle laden pilings.
By sinking the boat, it becomes a much heavier vessel slowing it's momentum significantly.
Once over, we all climbed on to the underbelly and held tightly as we approached the pier.
As we were carried under the pier a black cloud passed overhead, blotting out the sun.
Was this an omen? The next instant unfolded like a slow motion picture.
I saw the boat being lifted by a ground swell and realized I was caught between it and some pilings.
The boat descended on me.
At the last second, as it was about to crash into my head I ducked under.
I could feel the concussion of the boat hitting the piling, missing me by inches.
I surfaced and Tommy and I maneuvered the boat through the pilings while the six terror stricken victims looked on in horror.
Seeing the sunlight getting closer from the other side calmed them.
knowing we were almost through.
As we emerged, the guards on that side spotted us and dashed to our rescue.
Two boats reached us in no time putting three victims each into their crafts.
Tommy and I swam our boat to shallow water and emptied it..
As we made ready to go back to our station a large portion of the crowd still lingered.
It was always the same after a dramatic rescue.
The Canadians we had rescued were long gone, as was always the case.
Once the boat had hit shore and the embarrassed six were helped out, they disappeared quicker than a magician's assistant.
The crowd must have thought they'd been cheated.
After witnessing this melodrama, and in some cases having followed it for a few blocks to its conclusion, they were not ready to have it end so abruptly.
I always felt they wanted us to address them with a critique of the rescue, putting aside the fact they had just watched the entire event for themselves.
From our prospective rescues were so common that at times we probably exuded an air of indifference.
Regardless, it always took the crowd a while to disperse.