OAK ISLAND, N.C. (WECT) – Crews from multiple agencies rescued four boaters and a dog after a boat capsized Monday afternoon near Lockwoods Folly Inlet in Oak Island, officials said.
Oak Island officials said rescuers were called at 2:06 p.m. May 18 to The Point at the far west end of West Beach Drive after reports of a capsized boat and people in the water. When crews arrived, two boaters were in the water. Two other boaters and a dog were pulled from the water by a passing civilian boat, officials said.
Using a rescue watercraft and the town’s new Mobile Drone Control Unit, Oak Island’s Ocean Rescue Division found the remaining two boaters and brought them to safety. Oak Island Water Rescue crews then met the civilian boat and took the other two boaters and the dog back to shore.
Officials said all four boaters and the dog were safely ashore within 15 minutes and were evaluated by Brunswick County EMS for minor, non-life-threatening injuries.
The boat — a 19-foot Carolina Skiff — remains lodged in a sandbar area of Lockwoods Folly Inlet, officials said. Officials urged boaters to treat it as a navigational hazard until it is professionally removed and warned beachgoers not to touch or approach the boat if it becomes dislodged and washes ashore…