45-foot Response Boat – Medium (U.S. Coast Guard File photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew S. Masaschi)
SAND KEY, Fla. — The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan rescued five boaters Thursday after their 30-foot dive boat capsized 22 miles west of Anclote Island.
At 10:05 a.m., an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew on a training flight spotted five boaters clinging to debris and immediately deployed a life raft. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast via VHF-FM radio channel 16. A good Samaritan aboard the charter fishing boat Two Georges from Tarpon Springs, responded to the broadcast and rescued the boaters from the water.
A Coast Guard Station Sand Key 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew launched and transferred the boaters from the Two Georges to the RB-M who are now en route to Station Sand Key.
There are no reported injuries.
