PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard rescued two people Friday after the sailboat they were on, the Autumn Swell, ran aground six miles north of Ocracoke Inlet, N.C.
The boaters contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at approximately 5 p.m. and reported their vessel ran aground. During the communication, radio contact was lost, and the Autumn Swell’s crew immediately broadcast a mayday signal.
The watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched crews aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Coast Guard Station Ocracoke and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
Once the Coast Guard arrived on scene, the two boaters abandoned the Autumn Swell and swam to the Coast Guard boat, where they were pulled from the water and taken to Station Ocracoke-small.
