Yeah... We Sure Wish This Country Would Hear More Stories Like This One

With ever-increasing negativity surrounding all things aviation, we sure are glad to have the Coast Guard to point to whenever some anti-aviation NIMBY wants to ground us all... Some of the USCG's finest flyers showed what their wings were made of this weekend when three South Florida boaters who did not return from their fishing trip, as expected Thursday, were located 85 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday morning.

John Land, 48, of West Palm Beach, Fla., David Blakeney, 39, of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and Kevin Wood, 45, of West Palm Beach, were located with no reported injuries on their disabled 32-foot pleasure craft Shade Maker by a Navy frigate 85 miles east of Jacksonville.

A family member contacted the Coast Guard around 0100 Friday stating the boaters did not return Thursday at sunset as originally planned. The boaters got underway at 6 a.m. Thursday from Riviera Beach, FL, aboard the Shade Maker. The Coast Guard searched an area as far north as Jacksonville, as far south as Fort Lauderdale, FL, and as far east as the Bahamas. Not exactly what you'd call a small bit of water...

Aviation assets assisting in the search were:

• An HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami
• An HC-130 fixed-wing aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.
• A Bahamian Air and Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) aircrew

  

Once located, a Navy frigate rendezvoused with the Shade Maker and took its passengers in tow, returning them to Jacksonville...

FMI: www.uscg.mil