A fishing trip turned into a life-threatening ordeal June 28 when a mechanical failure nearly sank a boat carrying three people west of Egmont Key, prompting a rescue by U.S. Coast Guard Station Cortez.
“We were about 35 miles offshore when the Coast Guard got to us,” said the vessel owner, Ti Jones of Pinellas Park. “We started taking on water and couldn’t figure out why.”
Jones, who spoke to The Islander July 2, said the trouble began when Jones and his friends, Rodney McDuffy and Tony Montgomery, purchased pinfish bait near Maximo Marina in St. Petersburg and debris from the bait tanks clogged the boat’s live well system.
After a 40-mile run offshore, Jones started to experience problems.
“I noticed that my live well was clogged at one point, so I unclogged it and kept on fishing,” he said. But then the engine began running sluggishly and water began pooling in the stern.
Jones investigated and found water filling the bilge compartment.
“We were pulling water out any way we could — with cups, coffee mugs, a bucket,” he said.
As water got over the boat’s batteries, electronics began to fail.
“The bilge pump stopped working,” he said.
Jones retrieved a firearm from the vessel console and fired five rounds into the air to signal a nearby vessel but the shots went unheard.
Eventually, a boater, identified as Steve Brownlee of Ellenton, spotted the distressed crew and went to assist.
Brownlee loaned the crew a manual bilge pump to bring down the water level and allow them to get underway.
Jones said Brownlee advised him to “push the engine as hard and fast as you can” toward shore, using the forward momentum of the boat to drain water out of the hull.
“He gave me the best advice — ‘get the boat moving,’” Jones said.
Coast Guard responds
Despite making about 5 miles progress back to shore, the vessel still needed help and USCG Station Cortez answered the call.
“When our boat crew arrived on scene, the vessel’s stern was sitting low in the water and the bilge was almost completely full,” Petty Officer 3rd Class Kendrick Cannick, a boatswain’s mate at Coast Guard Station Cortez, said in a July 3 email.
Coast Guard crews boarded the vessel with a portable pump but even that malfunctioned initially. After repairs, crews dewatered the boat, leaving about 4 inches of water onboard.
The Coast Guard then escorted the vessel back to St. Petersburg.
Cannick urged all boaters to check bilge pumps before trips and to carry an emergency position indicating radio beacon.
“Activating an EPIRB provides the Coast Guard with the vessel’s precise GPS location, which could help save your life,” Cannick said.
No injuries were reported.
“I’m just grateful to be back on dry land,” Jones said. “Steve saved our lives and the Coast Guard was amazing. Everybody stepped up.”
“It was a fishing trip I’ll never forget,” he said. “But … I’d rather forget it.”