According to a spokesperson for the United States Coast Guard office in Boston, last week’s visit of the Coast Guard cutter USS Escanaba was prompted by the storm that visited the region on Wednesday and Thursday and the anticipated high seas that accompanied the storm.
Residents of Lynn Shore Drive and visitors to the Lynn Beach area were probably surprised to see the medium endurance cutter floating in the waters of Lynn and Swampscott’s King’s Beach, but the late season storm that rolled out to sea last Wednesday evening into Thursday, had been expected to create a possibility of flooding along the coast and rough seas on the ocean.
Given the distance from the Coast Guard’s headquarters in Boston harbor, the USCG opted to ‘pre-position’ the cutter outside of the harbor, so that it would be closer to open water in the event it was needed to respond to a vessel in distress.
Fortunately for all involved, the Escanaba was never needed during the storm and the vessel went back to Boston harbor Friday afternoon.