Father, 3 Sons Rescued From Sinking Boat Off Plymouth

MARSHFIELD (CBS) – A father and his three sons were saved in a risky rescue off the coast of Plymouth.

"My whole obligation out of the whole thing was just to make sure my father was alright," said Anthony Gonsalves.

The Gonsalves family from Brockton recalled the rescue after nearly losing their lives Wednesday when they took their boat out of Brant Rock.

"She just sunk, just went right down," said Stanley Gonsalves. "I'm looking at the bow and I said "Oh my God.'"

Four people were on board the Gonsalves boat when it started sinking off of Plymouth. Marshfield Police got to them just in time.

"When we pulled up next to the boat, it immediately sank like a rock," said Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares. "Two people kind of just floated out of the boat and there were two people who were trapped inside the boat as it sank."

Only the canvas top of the boat was above water. Under it were Stanley Gonsalves and his son Anthony, who was trying to push his dad to the surface.

"I was taking breaths and going underwater making sure my dad would stay afloat," Anthony said.

"There was a canvas top that was halting him from being able to come out of the water, and the chief acted very quickly," said Assistant Harbormaster Bob Coakley.

"I was able to rip the canvas off the top of the boat and grab the father, he was underwater," said Chief Tavares.

With three of the four family members in the Marshfield boat, Anthony was missing. Then he surfaced, in the 45-degree water.

"Without the Brant Rock Harbormaster coming out there, we wouldn't have survived," said Stanley Gonsalves.