ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The U.S. Coast Guard said one of its crews rescued five stranded boaters on Friday after their boat sank 28 miles offshore in the middle of the night.
USCG said they received multiple mayday calls at around 3:30 a.m. from a boater who was on a 32-foot vessel that was taking on water. The caller said five people were on board and putting on lifejackets.
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“The boaters’ quick decision in donning life jackets and issuing a mayday call gave our crews the critical information and best chances of rescuing them,” said Ensign Gaige Garrett, of the Sector St. Petersburg command center.
The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter that reached the boaters around 45 minutes later, at which point a rescue swimmer and boat crew began helping them out of the water and back onto dry land.
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Video from the helicopter shows responding crews using night vision technology to locate the boaters in the dark and using ropes to pull them out of the water…