Coast Guard locates overdue boaters in Baffin Bay, Texas
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard located two overdue boaters in Baffin Bay, Texas, Saturday.
Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders received a report from the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office stating they were notified by a family member of two boaters who didn’t return to the Kaufer-Hubert Boat Ramp Friday evening.
A Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew were launched to conduct a search.
The MH-65 aircrew located the 21-foot vessel with no signs of anyone aboard and continued to search the area. The HC-144 aircrew located the two boaters and vectored in a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department boat crew to recover both boaters.
The boaters were returned to the Kaufer-Hubert Boat Ramp. The boaters stated they had been stranded since noon the prior day after their vessel drifted away from them while they were wade fishing. There were no reports of injuries.
“Thanks to the efforts of our crew we were able to locate both boaters safely onshore approximately 30 minutes after the MH-65 crew located the vessel,” said Lt. Steve Danseglio, a Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 co-pilot. “We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”