JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A man getting ready to watch the sunrise on a piece of plywood in a marina was swept out by the Hudson River current and wound up about 2 nautical miles away near Governors Island.

The man was sent drifting into the river on an 8-foot-long piece of plywood on Thursday around 4:45 a.m., a little more than half an hour before the sun came up, Fire Department of New York Capt. Louis Guzzo said.

“At first, we just thought it was debris,” Guzzo said. “You wouldn’t put this thing on a lake much less New York Harbor.”

The man told rescuers from fire department marine units that he went out to the dock at the Newport Yacht Club and Marina in Jersey City to watch the sun come up.

Guzzo said he believes the man stayed on the piece of wood because he didn’t want to jump into the water and lose his cellphone while swimming back. Instead, Guzzo said, the man stayed in the centre of the plywood as it floated farther into the harbour’s highly travelled commercial lanes.

“It was pretty choppy, and the wind was pretty strong,” Guzzo said.

The man, whose name wasn’t disclosed, was rescued unharmed about a quarter-mile from Governors Island, a 172-acre island in the heart of the harbour close to lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Guzzo said the man was very happy to see the rescue team and hugged members of Marine Unit 1 after he was pulled onboard.

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This story has been corrected to show the man was waiting to watch the sunrise, not watching the sunrise, when he drifted away.