A crew from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) flew to the aid of seven adults and one kid whose boat capsized 36 miles west of Boca Grande, Florida, on Saturday.
From a news release, the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said that the boaters said their 28-foot boat flipped over and sank off the coast of Boca Grande, which is close to Fort Myers.
The boaters set off an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), and then an Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk chopper crew picked up a signal from the boaters’ Personal Locator Beacons.
The crew said they saw the strobe lights from the beacon and saw that all eight people were wearing life jackets and hanging on to a cooler.
In the dramatic rescue video, the USCG chopper could be seen hovering over the boaters who were stuck before picking them up and lowering them back into the water.
The team said that they pulled everyone out of the water and took them to Venice Municipal Airport for emergency medical care.
The USCG said that no one was hurt.
Coast Guard Public Affairs Detachment Tampa Bay Petty Officer 3rd Class Santiago Gomez said that the boaters had all the safety gear they needed.
“The boaters in distress carried close to every piece of lifesaving equipment we encourage the public to carry onboard their vessel,” said Gomez. “Life jackets, an EPIRB, a PLB, visual signaling devices, and a marine grade radio with VHF-FM channel 16 improve our Coast Guard crews’ abilities to locate mariners in distress and increase the chances of a positive outcome to bring them safely home.”
“Today marks the beginning of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, and these safe boating practices make a difference year-round,” he added.
