Coast Guard Crews Rescue Boaters Nearly 80 Miles Offshore

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two boaters who were adrift in a sailboat 77 miles off the California coast on Sept. 23, according to Coast Guard officials.

The boaters were on the sailboat Annie when they sustained damage from multiple storms nearly 80 miles southwest of Half Moon Bay, and initiated a distress signal through their Garmin GPS device, Coast Guard officials said.

Emergency crews received the message from the Garmin emergency operations team around 7:15 a.m. on Sept.23 requesting assistance for the boaters.

Coast Guard officials said a plane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco were dispatched to the scene, which was in 6-foot to 12-foot swells.

The helicopter crew rescued the boaters as the plane circled overhead providing weather and position reports. The boaters were hoisted into the helicopter and then flown to the Coast Guard station at San Francisco International Airport, where San Francisco Fire Department crews met them.

Coast Guard officials said the boaters suffered minor injuries but will survive.

BY PF