Coast Guard rescues ailing man far off the North Carolina coast
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, hoists an ailing man from the cutter Spencer about 200 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras on Saturday. The man was experiencing chest pains aboard a sailboat 275 miles offshore when the vessel’s crew requested a medevac. (Coast Guard video screenshot)
By: Carl Prine
The Coasties shine once again, flawlessly executing a boat-to-cutter, and cutter-to-helo, rescue way off the coast of North Carolina. Say what you may about the Coast Guard, but give credit where credit is due- these guys and gals are World Class when it comes to Search and Rescue.
A ham radio operator in Florida helped the Coast Guard rescue a man far off the North Carolina coast on Saturday.
Coast Guard officials said a rescue helicopter pulled the unnamed 57-year-old man suffering chest pains off the cutter Spencer after its crew rendezvoused with his sailboat and retrieved him Saturday morning about 200 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras.
Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class Corinne Zilnicki told Navy Times on Sunday that watchstanders at the Fifth District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received the first alerts from the Personal Locator Beacon and Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon registered to the 48-foot sailboat Marie Elena around noon on Friday.
But communication with the sailboat crew wasn’t established until about 30 minutes later, when a high frequency radio operator with the Maritime Mobile Service Network in Inverness, Florida, established a connection between the watchstanders in Virginia and the Marie Elena’s crew, Zilnicki said.
The sailboat crew requested a medical evacuation. But because it was so far offshore, Coast Guard command center personnel urged them to turn toward Cape Hatteras.
The cutter Spencer, which was underway near the Virginia-North Carolina border, was redirected to the Marie Elena.
Because the Netherlands-flagged heavy load cargo ship Rolldock Sky was about 40 miles from the sailboat, Coast Guard watchstanders urged the vessel’s captain to try to close the gap and aid the ailing mariner, officials said.
But when the Rolldock Sky reached the sailboat, very rough seas prevented the crew from safely medevacing the man. So the Marie Elena kept sailing toward the barrier islands.
The Spencer reached the sailboat about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and launched a small boat crew to retrieve the patient.
An hour later at Air Station Elizabeth City in North Carolina, an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules extended-range search and rescue plane took off to rendezvous with the cutter.
Reads like a Clive Cussler novel. What I’d like to highlight:
“The fact that the EPIRB and PLB were registered and utilized properly allowed us to home in on the sailboat’s location,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Travis Unser.
Don’t leave home without them. The article may be read in its entirity at The Navy Times
Semper Paratus
Category: Search and Rescue
WOW, Cape Hatteras. Seems like every time we went around the cape, I had the AC&R (reefer) mid watch and it was always heavy seas and going down 6 decks to the reefer flats was something else when the ship went down into a trough and I was in a weightless condition and then when the ship went up out of the trough, I was being pushed against gravity as I climbed down the ladder then dodging the bilge water coming through the deck plates while trying to take the reefer compressor readings. Seems like the watch stander before me never got a hold of the R Div. watch stander to light off one of the fire pumps and use the eductor to drain out the reefer flat bilge. Looks like I made another short story long.
Nice grab by the Coast Guard. DSC (digital selective calling) equipment is a great thing to have aboard which I don’t believe he had along with the above mentioned locating devices. When the DSC button is pressed, the GPS location goes out to all ships that have the same device onboard and a possible faster rescue.
Much respect for any Sailor and Coastie. “O Lord Your ocean is so big and my boat is so small.” Have a niece who was a Coastie (postings in Washington State & Alaska) and a God Daughter (postings in Gulf of Mex and now promoted to Potomac). Both, due to their proper upbringing and training were/are real badasses. Kudos to the Coasties on a job well done. Kudos also to the sailboat operator for having the proper equipment on board. And a great big attaboy for the ham operator for being the commo link. Much appreciation for the ham boys and girls too. Made many a MARS call home way back when thru the ham operators. Got a god friend now that heads up a ham club here locally.
I used to monitor MARS transmissions during the Holidays with my Drake R7 receiver and Universal M-8000 decoder. at the time, the transmission mode was 45 baud 170 shift RTTY. They went over to ALE which I am unable to receive so I’m out of luck on that mode.
Hoist work, in any condition is not easy. Off shore in that weather is another level. Outstanding.