Cedar Key, Fla. – The Coast Guard rescued a 66-year-old man after his boat was found adrift about 5 miles east of Cedar Key Thursday.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg were contacted at about 2:45 p.m. by a good Samaritan reporting that a 16-foot catamaran sailboat with no one aboard was partially submerged and adrift east of Cedar Key.
The Coast Guard immediately launched a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater,Fla., MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and a Coast Guard Station Yankeetown, Fla., 27-foot rescue boat crew to search for Mike Miller, the owner of the sailboat.
Miller was found in the water at about 5 p.m. approximately one-half mile northwest of his sailboat and was safely transported to awaiting EMS in Cedar Key. Miller stated that his boat had capsized the night before and he had been in the water since.
“This case highlights the extreme importance of following safe-boating practices every time you go out on the water,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Clifford, a search-and-rescue coordinator at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg. “Always file a float plan, wear a lifejacket, have a VHF radio onboard your vessel and take a safe boating course.”
His condition is unknown.
