“Lynn had actually received a call for a windsurfer in distress over on the Lynn harborside, but while I was over at the DCR building a bystander came by and said the State Police had an individual on this side by the Causeway,” said Nahant Fire Chief Michael Feinberg. “We then got clarification that a gentleman was windsurfing and he lost the kite and swam all the way back to shore.”
Cole Morrison, of Revere, was windsurfing for about three hours before the incident happened. No one realized he was struggling until a local on his afternoon bike ride saw a kite with no one attached. Al Cohan, also of Revere, was on his usual 40-mile trek when he saw Morrison fly up in the air and fall into the water face down, floating.
“I saw him go up in the air and then I couldn’t see him, so I figured he got knocked out because I saw him just floating out there,” said Cohan. “So the last time I looked I went into the halfway house to see if there were any officers there and I didn’t see any but I did see binoculars so I used them to look and I still couldn’t see anyone out there.”
According to Cohan, Morrison was out there for at least a half hour with very little movement. Morrison later said the wind died down when his kite fell into the water and he couldn’t get it back up in the air.
“I struggled for a good 15 minutes until I decided to leave the kite, grab my board, and swim all the way back,” said Morrison. “I come out here probably three to four times a week, so that’s happened to me before, but I’ll probably be back out here tomorrow.”
