Nathan Blackwood, far right, Unionville Volunteer Fire Company assistant chief, talks to a 14-year-old boy on the Route 528 boat launch at Moraine State Park moments after the teen was rescued Friday morning from a wind-swept boat on Lake Arthur. He had been preparing to go duck hunting with his father.

FRANKLIN TWP — A 14-year-old boy's first time duck hunting will be one he likely never forgets — although it didn't go quite as planned.

The Westmoreland County teenager had to be rescued Friday morning when gusty winds caused his aluminum boat to break loose from its tether on the Route 528 boat launch.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the gas-powered boat was blown out onto Lake Arthur, eventually leaving the youth hundreds of yards from shore without a paddle or the experience to know what to do.

“He had no way to get back on his own,” said John Cinko of Greensburg, the boy's father, who accompanied his son on the hunting excursion at Moraine State Park.

Emergency crews were called out, but park maintenance employees ended up taking out their own boat and rescuing the teen, who was uninjured. He was wearing a life jacket.

“It was his first time duck hunting,” Nathan Blackwood, assistant chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department, said of the boy. “His dad was loading (hunting equipment) onto the boat, and a gust of wind came and the boat broke loose and started drifting out.”

Cinko could only look on helplessly from the boat launch as the wind kept pushing the 14- to 16-foot boat out farther and farther.

“We had that wind and the next thing we know, he's 20 yards out,” Cinko said.

“It kept going and going,” he said, “all the way across the lake.”

The boy used a cell phone to call 911 for help. Cinko flagged down a motorist on Route 528 to make his own 911 call.

Prospect volunteer firefighters were initially called. The Unionville Volunteer Fire Company was subsequently notified as well and asked to bring its rescue boat.

But park employees eventually came to the rescue and returned the boy and his wayward boat back to the launch. By the time they reached him, he had drifted about 1,000 yards from shore.

The teen looked cold and wet — but also relieved — as Blackwood escorted him from the launch to an awaiting ambulance.

“He was a little shaken, said park manager Dustin Drew. “A little unnerved.”

The ambulance crew checked the boy out and gave him a clean bill of health.

“It's a day he'll never forget,” Cinko said of his son.

By 8:30 a.m., father and son were undecided if they would give their duck hunting plan another try that day.

“He wants to go out again,” Cinko said. “We'll see.”