The Coast Guard rescued seven adults and one child after their boat capsized on Saturday about 36 miles off Boca Grande, Florida. They had been hanging on to a cooler to stay afloat. (You can see the Coast Guard’s video in the link below.)
The boaters called the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 at 12:36 a.m. saying their 28-foot boat was sinking. They activated their EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). A Jayhawk helicopter crew from the Coast Guard station in Clearwater used that signal, plus others from the boaters’ Personal Locator Beacons, to find them. The helicopter crew said they saw the EPIRB’s strobe lights when they got closer.
Fortunately, all eight were wearing life jackets. The crew hoisted each person, one by one, up to the hovering helicopter. The helicopter then flew them to emergency medical services at Venice Municipal Airport. No one was injured.
The Coast Guard said that the boaters had all the necessary equipment to save their lives. “The boaters in distress carried close to every piece of lifesaving equipment we encourage the public to carry onboard their vessel,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Santiago Gomez. “Life jackets, an EPIRB, a PLB, visual signaling devices and a marine grade radio with VHF-FM channel 16 to improve our Coast Guard crew’s abilities to locate mariners in distress and increase the chances of a positive outcome to bring them home safely.”
Read more at https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3793640/coast-guard-rescues-child-7-adults-36-miles-offshore-boca-grande/ and click on the link below for one video and then see the YouTube video below that:
