JUNEAU, Alaska—A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew rescued a stranded mariner from the shore of St. James Bay, near Juneau Friday.
The aircrew located the man on a beach, after finding his 10-foot skiff adrift, and transported him to the people that reported him missing at a nearby cabin.
Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders were initially notified by the crew of a 21-foot vessel that the missing man did not return from checking crab pots in the skiff. Watchstanders immediately directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Juneau 25-foot Response Boat-small crew, who searched the shore for three hours without finding the man.
At first light, the Air Station Sitka helicopter crew began a search and found the man stranded on a beach. The man’s skiff reportedly floated away overnight while he waited for sunrise.
The helicopter crew returned the uninjured man to his friends at a cabin on St. James Bay.
“The owner of the skiff was prepared with a life jacket and let someone know where he was going, but sometimes things just go wrong,” said Vince Grochowski, a watchstander at Sector Juneau. “Our response personnel train constantly to be prepared when someone finds themselves in trouble in the enormous Alaska wilderness.”
The skiff was recovered by its owner.
