NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard located two overdue mariners on Lake Pontchartrain, Thursday.
At 1 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans Command Center received a call from a woman reporting her fiance and his friend were several hours overdue from a sailing trip on Lake Pontchartrain. The men left the New Orleans Yacht Club in a 14-foot Catamaran and were expected to return by 9 p.m., Wednesday.
The Coast Guard launched a 25 -foot Response Boat-Small and crew from Station New Orleans and an MH-65C helicopter and crew from Air Station New Orleans. The helicopter crew located the overdue vessel next to the Causeway Bridge, approximately 7 miles from the south shore, and directed the RB-S to the scene. The sailboat became disabled during unfavorable wind conditions and was towed back to the New Orleans Yacht Club.
There were no reported injuries.
“The Coast Guard encourages all mariners to carry a VHF marine-band radio on board and to always were a life jacket,” said Lt. Brian Sattler, assistance chief of Sector New Orleans Command Center. “Radios are the quickest means of communication between mariners and the Coast Guard.”
