Quick-Thinking Man Saves Sinking Ship With Vodka Cork

Once again, alcohol saves the day. This time however, in quite a different manner than we’re used to: Joseph Lehr saved his drowning boat by plugging the hole in its underside with a cork from a bottle of Absolut vodka. Yes, you read that correctly.

On Monday, Lehr and his buddies were riding in Lehr’s 30-foot boat near Rockaway Beach in Queens, NY, when the boat started filling up with water. The first plan of action was to try and plug the hole with whatever loose objects could be found on the boat, including socks and a shaft of metal. Once the hole was relatively covered, Lehr and his friends deployed a bilge pump to try and suck up the water and blow it back into the ocean. Unfortunately for Lehr, these techniques didn’t completely work.

However, these initial efforts did give the boating buddies enough time to have crews from the FDNY and NYPD come to their aid and get them to shore, which was a mere 200 yards away. Once docked, Lehr needed to find a better way to plug the hole in his boat. Luckily for him, there were people on the shore who were kicking it back and drinking. Lehr didn’t initially pay these boozers any attention, considering his boat was sinking, but when they offered the corks from their alcohol bottles, Lehr realized these partiers could be his saviors.

Upon receiving the corks, Lehr dove into the water and swam under the boat, checking to see if any of them fit the hole, and to his pleasure, one did. The cork that worked was from a bottle of Absolut vodka. It was an Absolut miracle.

H/T New York Post

Header image composite via New York Post & New York Daily News