MIAMI — The Coast Guard is searching off South Florida for three boaters Friday who did not return from their fishing trip as expected Thursday.
A family member contacted the Coast Guard around 1 a.m. Friday stating the boaters did not return Thursday at sunset as originally planned. The boaters got underway 6 a.m. Thursday from Riviera Beach, Fla., aboard the 32-foot pleasure craft Shademaker. The Shademaker is a blue-and-white center-console SeaVee.
The Coast Guard is searching for the boat’s owner John Land, 48, of West Palm Beach, Fla., David Blakeney, 39, of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and Kevin Wood, 45, of West Palm Beach.
The Coast Guard is searching an area as far north as Fort Pierce, Fla., as far south as Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and as far east as the Bahamas.
Assisting in the search are:
- An HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami
- An HC-130 fixed-wing aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.
- A 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement vessel crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce
- The crew of the Fort Pierce-based 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Cormorant
- A 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement vessel crew from Coast Guard Station Lake Worth Inlet, Fla.
- Bahamian Air and Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) aircrew
- Crews from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of these individuals is asked to contact the Coast Guard at 305-415-6800.
