CLEVELAND – A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued two people after their 19-foot vessel began taking on water in Lake Erie, approximately 10 miles north of Ashtabula, Ohio., at about 1:15 p.m., August 3, 2010.
The Coast Guard received a distress call via VHF-FM Channel 16, reporting the vessel taking on water, at about 11:45 a.m. and immediately launched an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit and a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft (SPC-LE) and 25-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) crew from Coast Guard Station Ashtabula.
Crewmembers aboard the HH-65 located the vessel in distress, deployed a rescue swimmer and hoisted both boaters into the aircraft.
The boaters were taken to Ashtabula Airport and no injuries were reported.
All mariners are encouraged to invest in a VHF-FM marine-band radio as their primary means of communication on the water. VHF-FM marine-band radios are far more reliable than cells phones in the marine environment. VHF-FM Channel 16, the international hailing and distress channel, is monitored by the Coast Guard and state marine patrols around the clock. In addition, distress calls broadcast over VHF-FM Channel 16 will be heard by all mariners in the vicinity. Urgent safety information and weather reports for boaters are also broadcast over marine band radio channels.
