The U.S. Coast Guard came to the rescue of a sailor stranded Jan. 26 off the coast of Anna Maria Island.
The man was breaking in his new boat when the weather started turning for the worse. He used his cellphone to call his sister, warning her that something bad might happen. When the line went dead, she called the Coast Guard.
Chief Petty Officer Crystalynn Kneen, of Sector St. Petersburg, told The Islander, “The man was trying to sail his new boat from Clearwater to Sarasota. When we found him, he was stranded a mile west from Passage Key. He was stuck in 2 feet of water, which made it difficult for us to get our boats in there to help. Thankfully, we were able to work together with several rescue teams.
“Working with crews from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, we had the boater don a life jacket, jump into the water and swim to a rescue line from one of the county boats,” continued Kneen. “After he grabbed hold, we were able to pull him onboard our vessel and take him to Coast Guard Station Cortez.”
At Cortez, it was determined the boater did not require medical attention.
Kneen cautioned: Whether a novice or lifelong sailor, every boater needs to be prepared. “The sea can change in an instant,” she said. Every sailor needs to check the weather before they head out, have enough life jackets, a float plan and make sure they have a communication device on hand.
Kneen also recommended having a VHF radio onboard. The Coast Guard is on channel 16.