PROVINCETOWN — The harbormaster's boat picked up three people stranded on the West End breakwater during high tide Monday.

The stranded people called the Coast Guard for help, but the 24-foot patrol boat was already on its way to help, Provincetown Harbormaster Rex McKinsey said. His office routinely patrols the area around the breakwater, known as the Long Point Dike, during unusually high tides, as is occurring during this new moon phase, he said.

"We have gotten used to the fact we have to be out there around high tides," McKinsey said.

The three people were picked up between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., he said, adding that warning signs are posted at the breakwater already and more will be posted in the future.

New signs in his office alerts people that the dike and breakwater are more than a mile long, McKinsey said.

During very high tides, dips in the breakwater fill with 1 to 3 feet of water and become slippery, McKinsey said.

He is working with the National Park Service on the new signs and the agencies will decide whether to post them this year or in the spring, McKinsey said.

The patrol boat will be out all week making sure no one else is stranded on the breakwater during daylight hours, McKinsey said.

Next week it's a different story. High tides will occur at night, when the harbormaster boat will not be on patrol, McKinsey said.