Coast Guard rescues boaters from sinking, grounded vessels

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two people after their recreational vessel hit a jetty and started sinking in Barnegat Inlet.

A Coast Guard crew launched a 24-foot shallow vessel from the Barnegat Light station Thursday after receiving a call from the damaged boat in the inlet. The crew tried to bail out the sinking motorboat but could not keep up with the flooding, the Coast Guard said.

After transferring the boaters to the Coast Guard vessel, the crew took them to shore while two commercial towboats retrieved the flooded boat.

The Coast Guard said the boaters, who were not injured, provided a textbook lesson of what to do in an emergency.

"This was the perfect example of boaters being prepared for an emergency," said Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Capestany, the command duty officer at Sector Delaware Bay. "The vessel was equipped with a VHF-FM radio to call for help, and both people were wearing their life jackets. Boaters headed out on the water this Labor Day weekend should be as prepared for an emergency as these boaters were today."

The Coast Guard in the meantime reported that one of its helicopters later Thursday rescued a 79-year-old man and his 7-year-old granddaughter after their personal watercraft ran aground on Grassy Sound, near North Wildwood.

A commercial tow boat that attempted to reach the pair called in the Coast Guard because the water was too shallow for it to get close enough to the island.

The two, who were wearing their life jackets, were flown to the Atlantic City Air Station. No one was injured.