Pair rescued after saving fisherman

Two fishermen rescued a drowning man after his boat capsized Saturday morning in Shinnecock Inlet -- then were rescued themselves after their boat's engines failed in rough water and heavy fog, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

"They said they got to him as he was going under," Petty Officer Michael Fusco said. "The guy grabbed a line, but he was struggling to hold it. They pulled him on board."

But the rescuers' engines died before they could make it back to shore, and they started to drift out, Fusco and a towing service captain said.

Captain Les Trafford of Sea Tow heard their radio call and towed them in to Oakland's Marina.

The rescuers looked "knocked around pretty good," he said; the man they rescued "was coughing up water all the way to the dock."

Fusco did not know the names of the fishermen or the man they rescued. Trafford said he managed to salvage the rescued man's boat.

Trafford said an ambulance took the rescued fisherman to a hospital, and that they'd spoken by phone in the afternoon. "He was going to come down and look at his boat," Trafford said.