Two people were fishing off the coast of Longboat Key, Florida, recently when they came upon a group in desperate need of help.
Donald McGuire III said they spotted three people floating on an overturned boat and knew something else was wrong because they did not have an emergency beacon or flares, Tampa Bay 10 reported Saturday.
McGuire guessed the boaters went out early Thursday and tried to pull their anchor up when they wanted to leave the area. The group apparently told him they were on the water all night and McGuire said he called the U.S. Coast Guard for help.
An image shows the group sitting on the overturned boat in the open water:
AMAZING: Some 33 miles out on the gulf, Donald McGuire III and a buddy were out for a routine day of fishing when they…
Posted by 10 Tampa Bay on Saturday, April 8, 2023
McGuire also realized the group was dehydrated and stressed after such a long night with no help in sight.
Therefore, “First thing we did when we pulled up there and got him some water [and] food,” he recalled.
When officials arrived at the scene, they rescued the group and got them safely on board their vessel.
The Coast Guard has been safeguarding citizens since 1790, its website reads, adding, “The Coast Guard saves those in peril and protects the Nation from all maritime threats.”
It is “the principal Federal agency responsible for maritime safety, security, and environmental stewardship in U.S. ports and inland waterways, along more than 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline, throughout the 4.5 million square miles of U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and on the high seas,” per the website.
Now, the group is keenly aware of boating safety and how important it is to have an emergency position radio beacon while on the water.
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