Browsing: Coast Guard

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Let’s Hear It for CPO Feco

Chief Petty Officer Feco, who was honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., this spring, just retired from the Coast Guard in another ceremony at the Coast Guard base in Alameda, California. Feco, a nine-year-old Hungarian Vizsla, joined the Coast Guard in 2014, and has been a member of its San Francisco Canine Explosive Detection Team ever since. Over the years, Feco and his lead handler, Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Sumner, have participated in more than 1,500 events, including such high profile gatherings as several Super Bowls, major league baseball games, golf tournaments and Fleet Week. They also have…

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Boating Was Safer Last Year: Coast Guard

The Coast Guard has some good news for us. Boating got a little bit safer last year. The Coast Guard has issued its annual report on boating safety. The major findings: In 2021, there were 658 fatalities, down 14 percent from the previous year (when there were many new boaters because of the pandemic). There were 5,265 total accidents, down 16 percent. The only bad news was that property damage hit $67.5 million, an all-time high, perhaps due to inflation or the higher price of both new and used boats. The top five contributing factors to accidents were operator inattention,…

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See Video of Lightning Hit Fishing Boat

Here’s an incredible real-time video of lightning hitting a Stamas 39 with seven people on board earlier this week, about 100 miles off Clearwater, Florida. All seven people were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Remarkably, they all escaped injury. The rescue started after the owner of the boat, Glenn Rumer, activated his EPIRB; the lightning strike had knocked out all the boat’s power and electronics. The Coast Guard in Clearwater received the EPIRB alert, and contacted Rumer’s wife, who said her husband and a group of friends were in an offshore fishing tournament. The Coast Guard sent a Jayhawk…

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Miami Tiki Hut Captain Busted!

The Coast Guard and other law enforcement authorities have cracked down on illegal boat charters in Miami lately. Indeed, they cited the captain of a 42-foot powerboat in Miami Beach and charged him with operating an illegal uninspected passenger vessel. They cited the captain of a 53-foot powerboat near the Miami River on the same charges. And they busted the captain of a 15-foot floating Tiki Hut, also near the Miami River, for operating an uninspected passenger vessel, as well as operating under the influence of alcohol The Coast Guard said that a Coast Guard law enforcement team from Miami…

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Coast Guard Rescues Ten Crab-Fishing Boats

The Coast Guard has towed at least ten commercial fishing boats across treacherous bars to safety in the Pacific Northwest at the start of the Dungeness crab season. The start of the Dungeness crab season on Dec. 1 coincided with several bar restrictions due to hazardous conditions. When the Coast Guard issues a bar restriction recreational vessels are prohibited from crossing the bar. Commercial fishing vessels can cross the bar, however, if they follow a Coast Guard safety checklist and procedures. At times the Coast Guard will escort commercial vessels back across the bar if they are caught outside in…

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Coast Guard Saves 95-foot Yacht in Mona Passage

Two ships and a helicopter from the Coast Guard saved a 95-foot yacht from sinking in the Mona Passage, about 26 nm west of Rincon, Puerto Rico. The Coast Guard says that the yacht, Current Sea from Fort Lauderdale, reported it was taking on water and the bow was riding low in the water. The captain of the yacht transmitted a Mayday call at 8:54 a.m., which was received by the Coast Guard in San Juan. The bow was damaged when the anchor reportedly came loose and punctured the hull in two areas. The bilge was flooding. The Coast Guard…

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Get the Snow Off Your Boat: Coast Guard

It’s getting to be that time of year again, and that means that those of us in the northern states need to get ready for the snow, ice and generally lousy weather we know is coming. For its part, the Coast Guard is stressing the importance of getting snow off your boat as soon as you can, and preventing any ice to build up on docked boats. The accumulation of snow and ice can reduce a boat’s stability, and even cause it to sink. The Coast Guard also urges everyone to wear appropriate personal protective equipment if they’re boating in…

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Coast Guard Offloads Record $1.4 Billion in Drugs

The Coast Guard just announced its biggest drug haul in history, offloading more than $1.4 billion worth of cocaine and marijuana from the 418-foot cutter James in Port Everglades, Florida. The James was flanked by the 181-foot Royal Canadian Navy coastal defense vessel Shawinigan at a press conference announcing the offloading. The drugs, 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana, were seized by the James, the Shawinigan and eight other American and Dutch ships in 27 different seizures in the eastern Pacific off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America and in the Caribbean. “Interdicting these drugs…

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More People Boating, More Boating Accidents

Many more people were boating last year, during the pandemic, including many who were boating for the first time. The result, according to the Coast Guard: about 25 percent more deaths, and 26 percent more accidents, than the year before. Now, BoatUS has looked into the reasons behind the statistics. The top five: Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure. Read the BoatUS report here: ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 16, 2021 – The U.S. Coast Guard recently released the 2020 Recreational Boating Statistics, and reports of accidents, fatalities and injuries were significantly up over the prior year.…

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NTSB Report: Seacore Power Hit by Violent Conditions

The National Transportation Safety Board  just released its preliminary report about the capsizing of the Seacore Power lift boat in the Gulf of Mexico last month, revealing that the boat capsized as the helmsman tried to put its legs down when it was swept by a sudden, violent storm. The boat had 19 people on board when it left Port Fourchon, the southernmost port in Louisiana, on April 13. Six were rescued after the accident by Good Samaritan boats and the Coast Guard, six others died, and seven are still missing. The NTSB report made clear how fast conditions changed,…

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