Sailors Caught in Net Saved by USCG

Three intrepid sailors in a 35-footer
a half-mile off Newport, RI, evidently got caught on a fish net and required USCG
rescue. Hey, it was blowing 25 to 30 knots, with 7 foot seas, they said, and it
was scary! Anyway, they were late getting
home and Mom would have been worried.
Never mind that their sailboat could have pulled a fish factory ship to port, much
less its net, in 30 knots of wind – if only these sailors has put their sails up.
File this one under “Sailors Tales”.

It’s a dangerous place out there in Block Island Sound – there are lobster pots, fish nets, and (gasp!)-- wind!

See video of
sailors recued from the jaws of death…

Seeing is Believing...


USCG News, May 14th--



A Coast Guard Jawhawk helicopter crew plucked three people from a 35-foot sailboat
today after it got tangled in a fishing net, half of a mile from Lands End, in Newport,
R.I.



A 41-foot rescue boat crew launched from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, after
a good Samaritan saw the Archelious and called the Coast Guard at about 9.am, but was unable to get close enough to rescue the trio.


Tax Dollars to the Rescue



The helicopter launched from Air Station Cape Cod and arrived on scene at 11:41
AM.



The three people aboard the sailboat, two men ages 25 and 31, and a 16-year-old
boy, were unable to lower the mast, which made it too dangerous for the helicopter
to conduct a hoist from the boat’s deck.



The three were instructed to put on survival suits, jump into the water, and swim
away from the boat. A rescue swimmer helped them into the hoist basket and all three
were safely taken aboard the helicopter.


Scary Weather



On scene, the winds were 25-30 knots, with seas reaching seven feet.



They were taken to Station Castle Hill. No injuries were reported.



“The weather here can be unpredictable at times,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Mark
Leuchte, an operations specialist at Sector Southeastern New England. “They didn’t
have a radio onboard and it was lucky for them that someone saw them and phoned
it in.”

Let’s see, no radio, and a half mile from Newport, RI, one of the largest boating
centers of the East Coast. Gad.



Clearly, these sailors need some help.


Would our trusty
powerboat readers please make some suggestions as to how these
helpless rag baggers could have extricated themselves from this normal hazard to
navigation without asking the USCG to save their bacon…