Coast Guard rescues scallop diver

SUTTON ISLAND – Coast Guard crews rescued a Massachusetts man early Monday morning, after he became stranded while scallop diving Sunday afternoon and spent the night in a summer cottage on an offshore island.

Derrick Sasser of Amsbury, Mass., drove up to Mount Desert Island to spend a few days diving and exploring the scallop beds just north of Sutton Island, a small land mass located between Northeast Harbor and the Cranberry Isles, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Pat Vanzura said.

On Sunday morning, Sasser drove to Northeast Harbor, where he launched his 23-foot-long motorized boat and headed for the scallop beds.

When he didn’t return to shore by sunset as planned, owners of the Seawall Motel in Manset, where Sasser had been staying, called the Coast Guard station in Southwest Harbor to report the diver’s disappearance.

A 21-foot-long Coast Guard rescue vessel searched the sea route between Manset and Northeast Harbor but found no sign of Sasser’s boat.

When Mount Desert police officers found Sasser’s car and trailer in the public parking lot near the dock in Northeast Harbor, the search was expanded to areas off Mount Desert Island where Sasser was likely to have gone, Vanzura said.

An area just north of Sutton Island, located about a mile off Northeast Harbor, seemed the most plausible location, he said.

“He was here diving for scallops, so they headed to the nearest scallop beds,” Vanzura said.

At 2:15 a.m., Coast Guard rescue crews found Sasser’s boat anchored about 200 yards north of Sutton Island. The boat was not damaged, and Sasser was not on board, Vanzura said.

“From there, we shifted mode -instead of looking for an overdue boat, we were looking for a person in the water,” he said.

A second 41-foot-long rescue boat was put into service, with members of the Marine Patrol on board to help with the search-and-rescue effort. A Coast Guard helicopter from Cape Cod also responded, he said.

Finally at 4:30 a.m., one of the rescue boats spotted a light coming from the north shore of Sutton Island. Sasser, who had heard the helicopter flying overhead, was signaling rescue crews with a flashlight he found in one of the summer cabins on the island.

Sasser, who is in his 40s, was taken to the Coast Guard station in Southwest Harbor, where emergency medical personnel said he was in good condition.

Sasser had been dressed appropriately for diving in Maine’s cold ocean water and did not suffer hypothermia.

He had found shelter in one of the cabins on the north shore of Sutton Island after he became stranded late Sunday afternoon, he told Coast Guard rescue crews.

“He was diving by himself, and when he went down, he got caught in a current and couldn’t make it back to his boat,” Vanzura said. “So he swam for the nearest land mass – the island.”

About 7 a.m. Monday, a Coast Guard crew ferried Sasser back out to his boat.

By midmorning, he was on the road, driving home to Massachusetts, Vanzura said.