SAND KEY, Fla -- Five boaters whose boat capsized in the waters west of Anclote Island on Thursday were found clinging to debris from the boat and rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, according to officials.
- Boaters left from Hudson early Thursday
- Life raft caught in mast, went down with boat
- Coast Guard helicopter crew spotted boaters in the water within 15 minutes
The boaters told us they left Hudson early Thursday to fish for grouper in a 30-foot dive boat. Coast Guard officials said they were about 22 miles west of Anclote Island when the boat capsized.
"The water was just rushing over," said Jeff Kennedy, one of the boaters rescued. "The boat was down and rolling over, so it rolled and so now it was a really bad situation."
Kennedy said an open port hole was to blame for the ship capsizing.
Fellow boater David O'Neal said he began to panic once he realized how quickly they were going down.
"Within five minutes that boat was down," O'Neal said. "We were floating on whatever we could."
The boaters said their life raft got caught in the mast and went down with the boat. Fortunately, they had life vests and an EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) they activated immediately.
Thanks to that EPIRB, it didn't take long for the Coast Guard to find them.
"Within 15-20 minutes, we had a Coast Guard C-130 flying overhead and it's just a wonderful sight, 'cause it gets lonely out there, even with four other shipmates," Kennedy said.
A charter fishing vessel named the "Two Georges" got the boaters out of the water before they were transferred to a Coast Guard boat.
A relative who picked the boaters up said she's thankful.
"I'm just so thankful that somebody picked them up and everybody's safe," said Lauren O'Neal.