Mysterious Raft Washes Up on Jersey Beach
The Jersey Shore is known to have many different things wash up on the shore over the years.
During the 1940s as German U-boats were attacking merchant ships, parts of those ships would wash up on the beaches.
Mysterious Raft Washes Up on Jersey Beach
Even with today’s technology, smaller boats wash up mostly due to pilot error or a malfunction of the engine.
Something that washed up this past weekend though has people raising a ton of questions.
On Saturday, March 9th, John Clements was walking down the beach in Sea Isle City when he noticed something in the distance.
Sitting right on the waterline at 73rd Street was a large orange object. As he approached closer he noticed it was a large raft used mostly for a lifeboat on ships.
This raft was made of a durable buoyant rubber material that had reflectors on it so that it could be easily spotted by search and rescue teams.
Clements took to Facebook to share his photos online, all of which are featured in this post.
In the photos, you can see two climb-in sides on the sides of the raft which would allow people in the water to climb into it.
The police were called and quickly made their way to the scene.
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While many speculated on where it came from Sea Isle News had gotten the scoop from police that it was from a ferry that runs up in New York City.
Police were able to obtain this information thanks to the markings on the side of the raft.
Just like in normal cruise ship lifeboats, all rafts are required to have such markings so that if they are found at sea, officials can know where those passengers came from.
Since this one was empty, those markings came in handy.
While they didn’t announce which ferry it came from, one can guess that it came from the Rockaway ferry line which links between the Rockaways, Sunset Park, and Lower Manhattan while connecting New Yorkers to its beaches.
This is one of the few New York Ferry lines that run outside of the New York Harbor and out towards the ocean which has external life rafts attached to its roof.
Since officials say that it fell off, it is possible it could be from this one.
What helps with this guess is the fact that the current has to play a part in this.
Since this line goes out towards the lower bay, just north of Sandy Hook, the current may have picked it up in its stream and carried it out to sea.
Between a fast-moving current and a few storms, the raft moved down the coastline before resting in Sea Isle City.
The Sea Isle City Public Works Department successfully removed the raft by deflating it and disposing of it.
It just comes to show that anything can wash up on the beaches of New Jersey.