29-foot Response Boat-Small (U.S. Coast Guard file photo)
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — U.S. Coast Guard Station Portsmouth crews rescued a man after his wife reported his vessel was taking on water near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads in Portsmouth received a call at about midnight that a woman’s husband had called her to say his boat’s battery had died, his cell phone was dying and the boat was taking on water.
Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) crew from Station Portsmouth to assist.
Station Portsmouth located the man and found he was maintaining the water using a hand pump but was adrift. The crew transferred the man to the RBS and towed the vessel to Willoughby boat ramp.
No injuries or pollution were reported.
“Because the individual told his wife where he was going to be, filed a float plan, our crews were able to quickly locate and assist the man by narrowing the search area,” said Petty Officer First Class, Rachel Davis, duty watchstander at Sector Hampton Roads.
