MIAMI – The Coast Guard released a video Saturday of a recent rescue at sea northeast of Key West.
A crew in a Coast Guard helicopter from Miami found two people clinging to what was left of a 32-foot vessel after it started to take on water on Friday. The video shows when the Coast Guard crew hoisted them into the helicopter at night.
According to Petty Officer 1st Class Brian O’Neal, a Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstander, the rescue Friday was an example of why mariners must “routinely familiarize themselves” with their navigation equipment.
“The Coast Guard Auxiliary provides free training to those on a variety of safe boating techniques, including the use of maritime global positioning systems,” O’Neal said in a statement.
Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders first received the report at about 4:15 p.m. about a disabled vessel 14 miles south of Marco Island, but during the search, the crew found them about 55 miles northeast of Key West.
The Coast Guard rescued a man on Thursday after finding him strapped to a cooler 30 miles from Longboat Key. The man had been on a disabled boat on Wednesday afternoon and vanished before Hurricane Milton landed.
The Coast Guard also recently found a man whose 36-foot sailboat became disabled off the coast of Sanibel Island as Hurricane Helene approached. The man was holding his dog when Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater rescued him.