Blogs

10-26-13 Galveston, TX 3 rescued after boat flips near Galveston The Coast Guard says three people have been rescued after their 21-foot motorized boat capsized in the entrance channel to Galveston Bay. The Coast Guard says one person suffered a broken leg in the accident Saturday morning. A fishing captain who saw the three people in the water called for help. Adolph Postel says he heard some yelling and thought somebody caught a big fish when he realized the nearby boat had flipped. The Coast Guard transported the three rescued individuals to Galveston, where emergency personnel treated the injured person. Further details on the three people weren't immediately released. Read full story here.

10-27-13 Miami, FL Two Rescued From Sinking Boat Off Miami A life jacket and inflatable seat cushion likely saved the lives of two people stranded in the ocean off Miami Sunday morning. The two also used a personal locator beacon which the U.S. Coast Guard said helped them locate the boaters. A distress signal was received around 11:03a.m. The pair told rescuers that their boat; a 22-foot yellow catamaran, completely sank. The boaters were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter approximately 20 miles east of Miami. The Coast Guard urges all boaters, especially those traveling offshore or to remote areas, to carry an Emergency Radio Beacon. Read full story here.

10-25-13 Bodega Bay, CA Boat fire at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay A boat caught on fire at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay Friday night, Oct. 25  at approximately 6:45 p.m. Fisherman Mike Wolf had come back to his boat The Disperser on the A Dock at Spud Point to check on his fishing gear when he saw a boat at C Dock burst into flames. He immediately called 9-1-1. Other fishermen sprang into action afraid it would spread to their vessels. Bodega Bay Fire District board member Tony Anello who lives across the street from the marina was about to leave for Tomales High School where his granddaughter is a cheerleader to see a game when he saw the flames. He is a retired fireman with 37 years’ experience so he got into his gear and ran out to C Dock. Bodega Bay Fire Department was on scene less than 10 minutes after Wolf’s call. The fishermen had immediately moved adjoining boats at C Dock out of the way of the flames. The boat, The California Flyer, owned by Dustin Maynard, according to the CHP, kept reigniting as firefighters beat down the blaze. It took an hour to finally get it under control. Three engines and an ambulance had reported to Spud Point. No one knows yet how the fire started, nor had anyone been able to reach Martin to let him know what had happened to his boat. “It’s gone, just gone,” said Anello. It was discovered the adjacent boats had suffered heat damage. This is the first boat fire in Spud Point’s history. The Bodega Bay Fire Department was first formed by fishermen in the 1950s. AT that time most boats had gasoline motors which made them especially volatile. Read full story here.

10-25-13 Barnegat Bay, NJ Coast Guard Rescues 2 From Boat Aground in Oyster Creek Crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light rescued six people in two separate incidents Friday – one in the ocean and one in Barnegat Bay. In the first incident, a person aboard a 42-foot sailboat contacted Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watchstanders at about 5:30 a.m. reporting the boat was disabled 25 miles offshore from Barnegat Light, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The crewmember told watchstanders there were four people aboard the sailboat, the engine was inoperable and they could not use the boat's rudder.  The sailboat was homeported in Canada, officials from the station said. A crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Barnegat Light responded and towed the sailboat and crew ashore, the statement said. Three hours later, a person aboard a 21-foot center console boat called Coast Guard watchstanders to report the boat ran aground in Oyster Creek in Barnegat Bay. The man said the other passenger aboard, a 47-year-old man, injured his head on the boat’s windshield and was in need of medical assistance. A crew aboard a 24-foot Special Purpose Shallow Water Craft from Station Barnegat Light launched and medevaced the patient and the other crewmember. The two men were taken to the Coast Guard station where the patient’s care was transferred to the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad. A local towboat company salvaged the 21-foot boat, the station said. Read full story here.

10-28-13 Lake Katrine, NY Motorist commandeers boat, rescues two fishermen in Rondout Creek A motorist driving on Route 213 late Monday morning commandeered a boat and rescued two fishermen whose boat struck a Coast Guard buoy in the Rondout Creek.  According to the Ulster County Sheriff's office, a 14-foot aluminum boat operated by Richard Champion, 68, of Montgomery struck the buoy, causing the boat to overturn. Champion and his companion, Robert Duvall, 72, also of Montgomery, were ejected from the boat. Neither were wearing life vests, deputies said. Gerald Gust of Esopus witnessed the accident, pulled over, commandeered a boat at a nearby marina, drove out to the two men and pulled them out of the water. Gust then took the two men to a dock at Lou's Boat Basin, from which they were transported to Kingston Hospital. Deputies said Champion was suffering from water in his lungs and Duvall was suffering from chest pains. Read full story here.

10-25-13 to 10-27-13 Lower Kuskokwim River, AK Boat Found In Lower Kuskokwim SAR Several communities on the Lower Kuskokwim River are involved in a search for two men: Nick Cooke of Bethel and Jim Lee Napoka of Tuluksak. The two were traveling together by boat to a funeral in Tuntutuliak Oct. 23 but they never showed up. They were reported missing Friday. Alaska State Trooper Michael Wilson says they were searching over 100 miles of the river by airplane and boat from Tuluksak all the way down to the Bering Sea Coast. “We didn’t have any real leads,” Wilson says. That changed Sunday afternoon. Close to 3 p.m. they found Napoka’s boat about 10 miles North of Tuntutuliak in the mouth of the Kialik River. The boat was submerged but it was the lead searchers needed. “With the finding of that boat, we’ve been able to now direct all of our resources to that area,” Wilson says. Searchers also spotted footprints on the nearby river bank. Now, boaters are concentrating on the shoreline with the hopes that the men are alive and well. Wilson says several villages are involved. They started efforts this morning at 8. “Anywhere between six and 10 boats between Napaskiak, Napakiak, Kwethluk, and Tuntutuliak and they’re going to be headed down to the mouth of the river and starting a shore search,” Wilson says. Troopers have used two airplanes for daily aerial searches since Friday. Read full story here.