A vessel drifted miles from Seaside Heights to Waretown, while another struck a neighboring boat lift in Long Beach Township.

BARNEGAT, N.J. — Sea Tow crews recovered two boats that broke free during the nor’easter battering the Jersey Shore this weekend. One drifted about 8.5 miles from a mooring in Seaside Heights before washing ashore in Waretown. The other became pinned against a neighboring boat lift in Long Beach Township, damaging the lift and another vessel.

Sea Tow Central New Jersey described the recoveries as part of numerous operations its crews handled in difficult conditions.

Boat drifts from Seaside Heights to Waretown

The first vessel came ashore along Barnegat Beach Drive in Waretown, where waves were pushing it against a beach and bulkhead. Sea Tow said its crew identified the owner and learned the boat had been secured to a mooring in Seaside Heights before drifting south.

“Continued pounding could have resulted in catastrophic damage and potentially caused the vessel to sink,” the company said. Crew members deployed a rigid-hull inflatable boat and floated a towline to colleagues on shore, who connected it to the stranded vessel.

Sea Tow pulled the boat away from the bulkhead and towed it to Key Harbor Marina. The company said it recovered the vessel before it sustained catastrophic damage.

Second vessel strikes lift in Long Beach Township

In Long Beach Township, Capt. Walt, Deckhand Bill and Joe responded aboard Sea Tow 41 after another boat broke free from its lift. It drifted into the windward side of a neighboring lift and became pinned there, damaging both the lift and a second vessel.

The crew freed the boat and took it to Key Harbor Marina for an emergency haul-out. Sea Tow said the recovery helped limit further damage to the neighboring property.

The incidents unfolded as the National Weather Service warned of strong winds, coastal flooding and hazardous marine conditions in Ocean County