Jupiter Inlet is well-known for its dangerous currents. On Friday at 5:30 in the afternoon, those currents sunk a man’s boat and forced him to swim to a nearby jetty. Lucky for him, a 13-year-old surfer named Sam Ruskin was surfing in the area.
The man, who hasn’t been named, was attempting to head his22-foot vessel through the inlet when the accident occurred. Jupiter Inlet is particularly dangerous because the outgoing currents colliding with the incoming ones, causing heavier than usual chop that can easily swamp smaller boats. Shifting sandbars also create shallow spots that change daily.
After the boat sank, the man swam away from the wreckage towards the jetty. Fully clothed and in danger of drowning, he struggled to get out of the water. That’s when Ruskin decided he had to help. “Come on, get on!” Sam told the man, according to the Sun Sentinel. “We have to paddle out of the current.” The teen offered up his surfboard to the exhausted man, and together they made their way to the beach. Neither were injured. “I don’t consider myself a hero,” Sam said. “But I think he was lucky that he didn’t get sucked into the jetty.”
