THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110035
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Three adults and two children were safe Sunday night after the small boat they were in became disabled and efforts to respond to the emergency left two of the men treading water in the Albemarle Sound as their boat drifted away.
One swam to shore. The other floated for four hours in a life vest and was spotted and picked up by a Coast Guardsman in a private boat. And a Coast Guard helicopter using a spotlight located the small boat with the third adult and the two children aboard.
Details were still sketchy Sunday night, and the names of the people involved were not available.
Petty Officer Al Bennett said the five set out on a fishing trip sometime Sunday afternoon and were about a half-mile south of Stevens Point at the north end of Albemarle Sound when the engine of their boat became disabled.
``They went to throw an anchor out so they wouldn't drift, but the anchor line parted,'' Bennett said.
Realizing what had happened, and that they might lose the anchor, one of the men jumped in the water, hoping to grab the end of the anchor line before it sank.
He caught the line, but was having trouble holding it so a second man jumped in to help him.
``By the time they got back to the surface, the boat had drifted too far,'' Bennett said.
They decided their only option was to swim to shore and call for help.
The third man, still on the boat with the children, was able to throw a single life vest to the pair.
They started swimming to shore, but the man with the vest, aged 27, became exhausted and could swim no further. The other man, whose age was not known, made it to shore.
About 6:45 p.m., the Coast Guard launched an HH-60 helicopter from Elizabeth City and an auxiliary patrol boat. They were joined by local fire and police boats and volunteers, including an off-duty Guardsman and his friend.
About 7:45 p.m., the Guardsman found the swimmer and took him ashore. He was reported in good condition.
Then, about 9 p.m., the helicopter crew found the boat with the man and two children aboard.
The helicopter crew radioed for the Coast Guard boat and guided it to the location and the disabled vessel was taken in tow and was expected to be at a pier by 11 p.m. Everyone aboard appeared to be OK.
Bennett said the people on the boat were lucky that they had been spotted at night. ``I certainly wouldn't want to be out there in the dark,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT by CNB