The Coast Guard rescued four boaters 24 miles southwest of Matanzas Pass Preserve Sunday afternoon.
Watch standers from the Coast Guard's St. Petersburg Sector received multiple mayday calls at 12:20 p.m. via thier VHF-FM marine radio. Using the Rescue 21 system they obtained an approximate location and launched a 45-foot Response Boat–Medium boat crew from the Fort Myers Beach Station.
According to the Coast Guard, a good Samaritan in the area overheard a faint distress call and relayed the information to the watch standers. Using the new information, the boat crew was able to pinpoint the location of distress.
The boat crew arrived on scene at 1:11 p.m. and found three adults and one child clinging to the hull of their 27-foot boat. All four were wearing lifejackets.
The rescue crew pulled them from the capsized boat and took them back to the Fort Myers Beach Station.
“I want to thank the good Samaritan aboard the fishing boat Great Get Away,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Philip Lengyel, search and rescue controller at Sector St. Petersburg. “We were able to locate exactly where this family was and rescue them quickly because of his assistance relaying communications."
No injuries were reported, and the boat remains capsized and adrift.
