HOUSTON — Coast Guard crews brought four people to safety from two boats that were both disabled by the rocks off Snake Island, across the Texas City Ship Channel from the dike, Saturday morning.
At approximately 4 a.m., a TowBoat U.S. boat crew called Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders to request assistance after being pushed against the rocks and becoming disabled trying to assist two people aboard a 16-foot disabled jon boat.
Watchstanders launched an Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and a boat crew aboard a Station Galveston 29-foot response boat, who arrived on scene around 4:30 a.m.
The aircrew hoisted the two people from the jon boat and transported them to Ellington Airport and the boat crew assisted the TowBoat U.S. crew by towing them to the Galveston Yacht Basin.
“It’s important to have a good float plan and be familiar with the area that you’re going to be in,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Mark Smith, the boat coxswain on scene. “It was kind of a tight situation, but we were able to pull them away from the rocks while avoiding the original hazards that disabled them."