Huntington Man Rescued After Drifting In Long Island Sound

Suffolk Marine Bureau Officers Matthew Funaro, Brian Flatley and Peter Bogachunas, aboard Marine Delta, rescued Huntington resident Mike Diaz from the water. Photo/SCPD

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

A Huntington resident was pulled from the water near Greens Ledge Light, off the coast of Norwalk, CT, after spending over 17 hours drifting in the Long Island Sound from Long Island to Connecticut.

Mike Diaz, the 56-year-old president of IslandWide Credit Counselors in Melville, left Lloyd Harbor Beach at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for a day of kayak fishing. By around 5 p.m., Diaz said he was a little less than a mile north of Caumsett Beach when he decided to head back.

“There was a small craft advisory at this point, and waves were breaking over the kayak, which started taking on water,” Diaz said.

At around 5:45 p.m., Diaz said the waterlogged kayak capsized only about 100 feet from the beach, but the heavy winds and strong current made it impossible to get back to shore.

“As the sun started to go down, I realized that I could not get back to the beach. I decided to hold on to the kayak because it had a light,” Diaz said.

Diaz said that the kayak sank at around 10 p.m., and he was left with nothing but the lifejacket he was wearing. “The [personal flotation device] saved my life; I will always keep that PFD,” he said.

Diaz said that he spent the night floating in the Sound being pushed by the current and the waves from Huntington, to the coast of Stamford and east to the waters between Norwalk, CT, and Smithtown Bay where he tried to signal a commercial fishing boat at about 5 a.m., but was unable to because of the weather.

“A lot of times you can’t see anything because of the waves,” Diaz said. “You are very much alone, and you are aware that this could go very bad.”

When the sun rose on Sunday, Diaz said, he hoped daylight would bring rescue, but the time of year meant that there were not many recreational boats on the water. “I started wondering how long I could last like this,” he said.

Suffolk police said that Diaz’s roommate reported him missing on Sunday morning after he did not return home, and a search was activated that involved police Marine and Aviation units, local Fire Departments and Diaz’s friends and family.

The tide in the sound changed at around 8 a.m., Sunday morning and started to run west back towards Norwalk, according to Diaz.

“I saw a lighthouse out on a jetty that was far enough away from shore that the tide wouldn’t push me back out,” Diaz said. “For the next hour or hour and a half I just put my head down and started swimming towards it.”

At around 11:30 a.m., Diaz said, he was able to get his hand around the rung of the ladder on the platform of the Greens Ledge Light, and hoist himself out of the water. From the lighthouse, Diaz was able to signal a fishing boat. Suffolk Marine Bureau Officers Matthew Funaro, Brian Flatley and Peter Bogachunas aboard Marine Delta picked up the radio call from the boat, and, with the help of a Paramedic from the Bayville Fire Company, rescued Diaz from the lighthouse and transported him about a mile to Norwalk Cove Marina, according to Suffolk police. Diaz was transported to Norwalk hospital and released on Tuesday.

Diaz said he is grateful for the first responders who helped him and the outpouring of support from the community.

“The bigger part of this story is the fact that all these people were out looking for me, a total stranger, that has to make you feel good about the world.”