A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter out of U.S. Coast Guard Station Clearwater rescued eight people from the Gulf of Mexico at about 1:55 p.m. May 18.
The crew was on a training flight when it received a mayday about a sinking 30-foot boat 33 miles off the coast of Anna Maria Island.
At 2:05 p.m. the crew pulled six adults and two children from the water and carried them to the air station.
No injuries were reported.
The boat reportedly sank and was marked with a white strobe hazard light.
Later in the evening, watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a call at 7:15 p.m. concerning a 19-foot boat that had run aground in Longboat Pass.
A crew from Coast Guard Station Cortez arrived on the scene, pulled three people from the water and turned the vessel upright before pulling it to the Coquina Bayside South boat ramp, 2652 Gulf Drive, Bradenton Beach.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Bartholomew Sullivan said all three people were wearing life jackets and suffered no injuries.
— Tal Reeve