HOUSTON — The Coast Guard rescued two boaters Wednesday, after their boat flipped over near an island in Galveston Bay, 5 miles off Kemah.
Rescued were David Fuhrman and Nick Hunter, who reported that he is enlisting in the Coast Guard.
At 9:43 a.m., the boaters made a mayday call on VHF-FM channel 16, stating the boat had flipped.
Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders were unable to communicate with the men on the radio. From information they gleaned from his mayday call and based on the direction of his transmissions, they launched an Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew, a Station Galveston 45-foot response boat crew, and a Station Houston 29-foot response boat crew to search the most probable areas.
An aids-to-navigation construction tender, the Coast Guard Cutter Clamp, happened to be nearby and spotted the men’s capsized boat on an island at about 11:40 a.m. They reported it to the watchstanders, who sent the 29-foot boat crew and helicopter aircrew to the location.
The boat crew rescued one of the men and the helicopter crew medevaced the captain, with a potentially broken leg, to Ellington Field where EMS was standing by.
Hunter is reported to be shipping off to Coast Guard boot camp later in September.