Massachusetts Governor Helps Rescue Boaters

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney helped rescue six people and a dog from a boat that sank in Lake Winnipesaukee, authorities said Monday.

No one was hurt when the 21-foot vintage wooden speedboat took on water and quickly sank in about 100 feet of water Saturday night, police said. But the passengers found themselves floating in near darkness, with powerboats passing nearby.

Romney’s sons Josh, 27, and Craig, 22, were on the beach in front of the family vacation home when they heard screams coming from the lake.

“Initially we thought that people were just making noise,” Josh said Monday. They soon realized the screamers were in distress and Craig spotted people in the water, about 300 yards from shore. The brothers jumped onto one personal watercraft, and the governor took another. With help from a neighbor in a powerboat, the Romneys shuttled the six to shore. Josh took the dog on his lap.

The Romneys met with reporters on Monday at a lakeside park near their house.

Robert Morrissey, 67, of Wolfeboro, had had his boat out with his wife, Melinda, their two children and two of their children’s friends. “I think we pulled the governor in the drink there for a second because it took a little bit of maneuvering to get out,” Morrissey said.

Melinda Morrissey said Romney was “a wonderful sport through it all -- very gracious.”