HOUSTON — The Coast Guard Cutter Manowar and crew arrived on scene at 8:28 p.m. Saturday to begin towing a disabled sailboat, with two men aboard, to safety after their sail was torn by weather in the Gulf of Mexico.
The wife of one of the men called Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders at about 2 p.m. Friday, after receiving a distress signal from her husbands SPOT satellite distress device aboard his sailboat, Money Maker. The signal position was about 110 miles off Rockport, outside the range of most land-based communication.
Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders launched the crew of the Corpus Christi based Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, an Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane to respond to the possible distress.
The HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew arrived on scene within the hour and made communication with the men. They reported no injuries and expressed their desire to stay with the sailboat. A life raft was deployed to the men from the aircraft as a precautionary measure and they were requested to signal with the SPOT every two hours until they were safe. The cutter and helicopter returned to Corpus Christi after finding they were not in need of immediate assistance.
The crew of the tanker Pelican State was passing by the sailboat at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday and made contact via VHF marine band radio. They stayed on scene for a couple hours to relay the men's status to Coast Guard watchstanders and help ensure their safety.
"For vessels that operate offshore, it is critical that they have some form of long-range communication onboard so that if they get in distress, they have a means of communication with the Coast Guard," said Chief Warrant Officer Michael Henry, a search and rescue coordinator at Sector Houston-Galveston. "The good Samaritan made things a lot easier for us by being on scene with reliable communication.”
The Coast Guard Cutter Manowar has the sailboat in tow and expect it will take about 10 hours to bring them to Freeport.