Coast Guard rescues boater in Gulf, 40 miles off coast of Crystal River, FL
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
Clearwater, Florida — On Saturday, September 14, 2024, aircrews with Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater rescued a man after his sailing vessel took on water, 40 miles off the coast of Crystal River, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. He had no reported injuries.
Air Station Clearwater airplane and helicopter rescue crews arrived on scene and located the boater aboard his partially submerged vessel around 2:00 p.m. The helicopter crew hoisted the man from the water and transported him to Air Station Clearwater.
At 1:00 pm, prior to his rescue, the distressed boater radioed Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders through channel 16, reporting that his vessel was taking on water through a crack in its hull.
"The distressed boater did an outstanding job by wearing his life jacket and having a marine-grade radio onboard his vessel,” said Lieutenant Casey Skomer, an operations unit controller at Sector St. Petersburg. “These items contributed to him being rescued swiftly and safely.”