Good Samaritans and a rescue boat from U.S. Coast Guard Station Juneau helped five people from a pleasure boat hard aground in Cube Cove on Thursday.
According to a dispatch from the Coast Guard, the boat’s crew sent a distress call over VHF radio, saying the boat was hard aground, taking on water, and one of its passengers, a woman, had sustained a head injury. A helicopter and a rescue boat were dispatched to the scene, but good Samaritan boats, including a crabber and the state ferry Aurora, were closer to the scene.
The helicopter airlifted the injured woman to Juneau, and the Juneau Coast Guard boat took the remaining passengers from a good Samaritan.
“This joint effort was highly successful due to the efficiency and teamwork among all responders,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Blake Fleming, a Sector Juneau watchstander, in a prepared statement. “The flight crew provided dewatering equipment, and several good Samaritans responded quickly to the scene. Mariners are reminded to be prepared with emergency equipment at all times while enjoying Alaska’s outdoors.”
The boat, abandoned, was later overturned and set adrift by the rising tide.
