Crew members from the Coast Guard Cutter Tarpon, homeported in St. Petersburg, Florida, dewater a 33-foot boat 23 miles west of New Port Richie, Florida, Wednesday, March 3, 2017. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
PORT RICHEY, Fla.— The Coast Guard rescued three boaters Wednesday after a 33-foot boat took on water 100 miles west of Port Richey.
At 2:19 p.m. watch standers at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a mayday call via VHF-FM marine band radio channel 16 from the boaters stating their boat was taking on water and they were in need of emergency assistance.
The Coast Guard Cutter Tarpon crew, homeported in St. Petersburg, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew from Coast Guard Station Sand Key were launched.
At 3:50 p.m. the Tarpon crew arrived on-scene; the three boaters reported their boat was not flooding as long as the boat remained moving. The Tarpon crew escorted the boat until 5:05 p.m. when the boat ran out of fuel still 23 miles offshore and began taking on water. The Tarpon crew conducted dewatering operations, and located and patched the source of the flooding.
The boaters contacted commercial salvage for fuel and were able to transit the boat to Nick’s Park, Port Richey, without further incident.
There were no reported injuries.
