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They 'Barely Escaped' Boat Fire, Only to Be Stranded 30 Hours

Family rescued from small island off Cape Cod after suffering from burns and exposure
Posted Oct 23, 2025 6:44 AM CDT
They 'Barely Escaped' Boat Fire, Only to Be Stranded 30 Hours
A Coast Guard helicopter lands on Naushon Island to rescue three stranded boaters on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2025.   (US Coast Guard)

A family whose boat caught fire near Cape Cod had to swim for their lives, ending up marooned on a remote island for more than 30 hours before their rescue Wednesday. Patrick and Cynthia Sullivan and their son, Tyler, set out from Falmouth's Eel Pond on Friday aboard a vessel called Third Wave, with plans to return Tuesday, per WCVB. But on Monday night, their boat caught fire, forcing them to swim to Naushon Island, the largest in the Elizabeth Islands chain, according to the Coast Guard. They found shelter in a barn but remained stranded for more than a day before the son discovered the boat's marine radio had washed ashore, allowing the family to call for help, reports the Boston Globe.

The mayday call went out at around 7am Wednesday, several hours after a relative had reported the family's vessel overdue, prompting a search. "Our ship burned while we were sleeping. We barely escaped," one of the family reported, per WCVB. The Coast Guard says volunteers from the Naushon Trust, which owns the private island, located the family and provided first aid. A Coast Guard helicopter landed around 8:30am, whisking all three to hospitals for reported burns and exposure. Cynthia is in critical but stable condition at Cape Cod Hospital, where Tyler is also being treated for third-degree burns, a relative tells WCVB. Patrick was taken to a Boston hospital's burn unit.

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