BALTIMORE – The Coast Guard rescued two people that were disabled and adrift near Love Point in the Chesapeake Bay Friday.
Rescued were Jeffery S. Kooser, 37, and James E. Kooser, 68.
Coast Guard Sector Baltimore watchstanders received the call from a 911 relay via cell phone from the 15-foot johnboat at 6:45 p.m. reporting that he was disabled and adrift.
A 25-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Annapolis, Md., arrived on scene and towed the boat and crew back to Sandy Point Marina.
The Coast Guard urges mariners to outfit their boat with a functioning marine-band radio as cell phones are typically an unreliable source of communication due to gaps in coverage and limited battery life. Using channel 16 on a marine-band radio is the most reliable way to communicate a distress to search and rescue personnel in the event of an emergency while on the water.
Also, boaters should try to provide as much information about their boat, situation and position as they can while making a distress call, in order to reduce search areas and response times.
“Being close to sunset, it was very helpful that he had a GPS on board and was able to provide his exact location which helped us locate the disabled vessel before dark,” said Scott Winslow, a watchstander at Sector Baltimore. “Not having navigation lights after dark could have made this a much more difficult search.”
