CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard rescue crews saved two people after their boat ran aground 25 miles south of Corpus Christi near Baffin Bay, Sunday.
The wife of one of the boaters contacted Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders at 10 p.m., stating that she had received a text from her husband that their 20-foot boat had run aground near Baffin Bay.
The watchstanders launched a rescue crew aboard a Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65C Dolphin helicopter. The rescue crew located the grounded boat at 12:59 a.m., and lowered a VHF-FM radio in order to better communicate with the boaters.
The rescue crew hoisted the two boaters and transported them to Air Station Corpus Christi.
“The individuals aboard the vessel had no other means of communication other than a cell phone,” said Cmdr. Daniel Deptula, Sector Corpus Christi response officer. “They had run aground in an area that had little or no cell reception. They were lucky the text that they sent out was received.”
The Coast Guard stresses that having a VHF marine-band radio can be invaluable during emergency situations, and its proper use to relay information during the emergency will better help the Coast Guard to respond to the situation at hand.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.
