MONTAUK, N.Y. – The Coast Guard rescued a man from a burning boat five miles north of Montauk in Block Island Sound, N.Y., Tuesday evening.
The vessel’s operator, Kyle Booth of Carmel, N.Y., notified Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound on VHF Channel 16 at 5:34 p.m. that he was in distress.
The Coast Guard was able to verify the location of the distressed vessel using their direction finding radio equipment and directed a Station Montauk rescue boat crew to the location. The rescue boat crew rescued Booth from the bow of the burning vessel before it sunk in 88 feet of water.
The 44-foot vessel, Island Girl, left Montauk Tuesday afternoon and was near Cerebrus Shoal when a fire started in the engine room.
“This is an example of a boater whose preparation saved his life” said John Olsen, a Sector Long Island Sound watchstander. “He had a survival suit, GPS, and functioning VHF radio, all of which facilitated him being saved by our rescue crew.”
