Search ends, boater found
The U.S. Coast Guard ended its search for a boater after locating him at about 9:30 a.m. Feb. 6 at Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant & Marina on Longboat Key. A caller contacted search-and-rescue coordinators at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg at about 9 a.m., after watching the news and reported he saw the missing boat moored at the marina and boater Peter Amos near the restaurant.
A friend had contacted the Coast Guard the day before to report Amos, a U.K. native, missing. Amos had left the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina in the 30-foot sailing vessel Lady Grace and, when the search began, was last reported near the Cortez Bridge.
A HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Station in Clearwater, Fla., along with a 25-foot rescue boat crew from Station Cortez and a 33-foot rescue boat crew from Station Ft. Myers Beach searched for Amos.
“It is very important that boaters leave a float plan with a friend, relative, or marina and follow their float plan,” said Chief Petty Officer Constance Saint John, search and rescue coordinator at Sector St. Petersburg. “Checking in with family or friends periodically during a voyage will eliminate any misunderstanding of distress.”
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