July 26, 2021
CAPE MAY, N.J. — The Coast Guard rescued seven people from a sport fishing boat beset by weather 69 miles southeast of Cape May Sunday.
A small craft advisory for the area indicated 4-to-6-foot seas with winds gusting up to 30 knots.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay received the initial report from Coast Guard Sector Virginia at 1:19 p.m., stating that a 40-foot sport fishing boat with seven people aboard had been beset by weather with seas reaching approximately 10 feet.
The crew of the vessel activated their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) when conditions continued to deteriorate. Coast Guard crews aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Indian River were launched to assist.
All seven people were hoisted and taken to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City where local EMS was standing by to assist.
“One of the scariest and most unpredictable places you can be is out on the water in a storm,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Petrenko, an operations specialist with the Sector Delaware Bay command center. “Fortunately, they had life jackets, a registered EPIRB and a radio, which they used to call for help. If any one of those pieces had been missing, we might not have been as successful as we were.”
Aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. rescue seven people aboard a 40-foot sport fishing boat beset by weather 60 nautical miles southeast of Cape May, N.J., July 25, 2021. Mariners are encouraged to check weather forecasts before heading out on the water. U.S. Coast Guard video.