USCG Rescues 10

[Bobcat]

Coast Guard rescues 10
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Six adults and four children from Miami were uninjured after they were rescued by the Coast Guard early Sunday after their boat sank off Key Largo late Saturday.

The 10 left Bay Cove Hotel at Mile Marker 99.5 bayside in a 18- to 19-foot pleasure boat for a short tour of the bay sometime late afternoon or early evening on Saturday, but did not return for hours, said hotel General Manager John Godsey.

A response boat from Coast Guard Station Islamorada found the group in shallow water and returned all 10 unharmed to the hotel about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Godsey and Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Max Franco said.

What caused the boat to sink or if it ran aground and then began taking on water, was unclear, but the owner had it removed from the water via Sea Tow the following day, Godsey said.

The group of relatives was in the Keys for a family weekend. A grandmother had stayed behind at the hotel to cook dinner when she became concerned and contacted Godsey, who in turn notified the Coast Guard about 9:30 p.m.

The family left the Keys early and could not be reached for comment.

"For an ordinarily quiet place it was an eventful weekend, but the kind of excitement we'd like to avoid," Godsey said. "Everyone was OK, but I think the (boat) owner said he was ready to get back home and sell the boat."

alinhardt@keysnews.com

[rschap1]

good thing it did not turn out worse

[Ratickle]

As reasonable as handheld VHF's are now you would think people going out in boats would all carry one if it didn't have a built in one. Good thing the grandmother was paying attention.