A summer sunset boat trip turned out to be no cake walk for reality TV’s Cake Boss, who’s thanking police and firefighters for getting his boat and passengers to safety after they were enveloped in fog in New York Harbour.
Buddy Valastro was bringing the boat back on Friday evening to Jersey City, New Jersey, after a dinner excursion with friends and family, when a clear day suddenly changed.
“All of a sudden — boom! — we were in a really deep fog where you couldn’t see anything,” even five feet ahead, he recalled by phone on Saturday.
About 12 people were aboard, including about eight children, said Valastro, who stars in TLC’s Cake Boss and Next Great Baker. His Carlo’s Bakery has four locations in New Jersey.
A longtime fisherman, Valastro said he used the 10-metre Boston Whaler’s radar and GPS to keep going, slowly, for a time. But he was concerned that other boats might not see his. And with children aboard, “we weren’t going to take a chance,” the father of four said.
They called for help, and police and firefighters found them in the fog within 10 minutes, he said.
The Fire Department of New York says authorities were called to help the fogged-in boat around 9.30pm. The New York Police Department ultimately towed the boat to Jersey City.
No one was hurt, though Valastro said some of the children were a bit seasick.
“We were just a little shaken up, a little scared,” he said. But not rattled enough to stay on dry land for long.
“Actually, believe it or not, we went fishing” on Saturday, he said.
Valastro is heading to Abu Dhabi for an event on August 9.
