Boaters rescue five people from Gulf of Mexico off Pasco, Pinellas coasts
The Memorial Day weekend started with boaters helping rescue five people Saturday from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Coast Guard said it aided two rescues conducted off the coast of Pasco and Pinellas counties, but that in each case samaritans got there first to help.
One rescue took place about seven miles off the coast of Anclote in Pasco County. The rescue started when the Coast Guard received a distress call on VHF-FM Channel 16 when the operator of a diving boat said he could not find two friends that had been diving off his boat.
A boat crew was sent from Sand Key Station and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was sent from Air Station Clearwater. But before the guardsmen arrived, two boats found the divers and brought them aboard.
The second rescue took place south of the first one, about 22 miles west of Indian Rocks Beach. The Coast Guard’s Sector St. Petersburg received a “Mayday” distress call over VHF-FM Channel 16 reporting that a boater had seen two orange flares fired into the air, signaling that someone was in distress.
The Coast Guard sent a boat crew Sand Key Station and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Clearwater.
The boater who spotted the flares was able to find the capsized boat that fired them and rescue three people, according to the Coast Guard. Officials did not say what caused the boat to capsize or if anyone was injured.
