OP
Update
Rescuers save 7 at sea
Woman, 80, died; girl, 4, spared
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]Snapshot charter Capt. Dan Jensen of Hawks Cay Marina was catching baitfish Saturday morning when he saw something in the water far off in the distance.
Minutes later, Jensen was on the radio reporting to the Coast Guard that he had picked up three men clinging to the bow of a partially sunken boat. His rescue launched a race to find rescue five other people from the same group, who had been in the water for 20 hours after their boat capsized off Long Key Saturday afternoon. The group had become separated in heavy seas.
Jensen talked to the national media about the rescue Monday, as authorities spent the day searching for the body of an 80-year-old Hialeah woman who drowned and investigating why the 22-foot Wellcraft capsized off Long Key.
The seven survivors -- three men, three women and a 4-year-old girl -- spent 20 hours in 4- to 6-foot seas enduring rain and thunderstorms.
"One guy swam to us, but the other two wouldn't leave the boat," Jensen said of the 8:49 a.m. Sunday rescue. "They said they didn't know how to swim, so one of my customers jumped in the water and swam to them."
One of the survivors recounted how he unsuccessfully struggled to keep his mother in his grasp, but Zaida San Jurgo was not wearing a life jacket, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) press release.
"They were Latino and luckily I had a customer on board who spoke Spanish, and from what the guy said, he was trying to keep her head above water," Jensen said. "At some point, she couldn't hang on and he couldn't hold on to her. He had to let her go. He started to tell us about it, but he totally broke down and couldn't talk."
About an hour later, rescuers found the other three women and a child hanging onto a floating cooler several miles from the partially submerged boat, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Kara Lavin. One woman and the child were wearing life jackets, Jensen said.
"I don't know how the heck they made it," Jensen said. "They're very lucky people."
The men appeared to be suffering from hypothermia and shock, Jensen said. A Coast Guard boat that pulled up alongside his took the men to waiting paramedics at Captain Hook's Marina Dive Center in Marathon, where the women and child also were taken by another boat. All the survivors were taken to Fishermen's Hospital, where they were treated for hypothermia, exhaustion and jellyfish stings, according to the FWC.
Jensen said the men told him the family had been coming to the Keys to fish for many years.
Their boat had been anchored near Tennessee Reef Lighthouse while the group fished, but the vessel broke free at some point, causing it to drift, FWC spokesman Lt. David Dipre said.
The boat capsized sometime around noon Saturday, but no mayday was broadcast, Dipre said. There also was no radio distress beacon on the boat.
"This was a really basic boat," Dipre said, adding that investigators were in the process of determining if the eight people aboard exceeded the boat's recommended capacity. "Being in that kind of vessel, in that kind of weather could lead to charges. We're still interviewing everyone."
Such cases generally lead to reckless or careless boating citations, depending on whether the boat operator was properly anchored or if he/she intentionally disregarded weather warnings, Dipre said.
The National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory Saturday morning warning boaters of 20-plus mph winds, rough seas and heavy rain. The conditions had prompted Jensen to delay his trip while he waited for a better weather window. It was a stroke of luck for the survivors.
"If we had gone out earlier, I never would have seen them," Jensen said. "They got another hour or so of drift time, which put them in our sight line. When I first spotted them, I could barely see them."
The FWC did not release the names of those in the boat until their relatives were notified, Dipre said. The agency released the following names of survivors on Monday:
(Names deleted)
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Safe boating
Trtldvr
[/SIZE]
Rescuers save 7 at sea
Woman, 80, died; girl, 4, spared
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]Snapshot charter Capt. Dan Jensen of Hawks Cay Marina was catching baitfish Saturday morning when he saw something in the water far off in the distance.
Minutes later, Jensen was on the radio reporting to the Coast Guard that he had picked up three men clinging to the bow of a partially sunken boat. His rescue launched a race to find rescue five other people from the same group, who had been in the water for 20 hours after their boat capsized off Long Key Saturday afternoon. The group had become separated in heavy seas.
Jensen talked to the national media about the rescue Monday, as authorities spent the day searching for the body of an 80-year-old Hialeah woman who drowned and investigating why the 22-foot Wellcraft capsized off Long Key.
The seven survivors -- three men, three women and a 4-year-old girl -- spent 20 hours in 4- to 6-foot seas enduring rain and thunderstorms.
"One guy swam to us, but the other two wouldn't leave the boat," Jensen said of the 8:49 a.m. Sunday rescue. "They said they didn't know how to swim, so one of my customers jumped in the water and swam to them."
One of the survivors recounted how he unsuccessfully struggled to keep his mother in his grasp, but Zaida San Jurgo was not wearing a life jacket, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) press release.
"They were Latino and luckily I had a customer on board who spoke Spanish, and from what the guy said, he was trying to keep her head above water," Jensen said. "At some point, she couldn't hang on and he couldn't hold on to her. He had to let her go. He started to tell us about it, but he totally broke down and couldn't talk."
About an hour later, rescuers found the other three women and a child hanging onto a floating cooler several miles from the partially submerged boat, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Kara Lavin. One woman and the child were wearing life jackets, Jensen said.
"I don't know how the heck they made it," Jensen said. "They're very lucky people."
The men appeared to be suffering from hypothermia and shock, Jensen said. A Coast Guard boat that pulled up alongside his took the men to waiting paramedics at Captain Hook's Marina Dive Center in Marathon, where the women and child also were taken by another boat. All the survivors were taken to Fishermen's Hospital, where they were treated for hypothermia, exhaustion and jellyfish stings, according to the FWC.
Jensen said the men told him the family had been coming to the Keys to fish for many years.
Their boat had been anchored near Tennessee Reef Lighthouse while the group fished, but the vessel broke free at some point, causing it to drift, FWC spokesman Lt. David Dipre said.
The boat capsized sometime around noon Saturday, but no mayday was broadcast, Dipre said. There also was no radio distress beacon on the boat.
"This was a really basic boat," Dipre said, adding that investigators were in the process of determining if the eight people aboard exceeded the boat's recommended capacity. "Being in that kind of vessel, in that kind of weather could lead to charges. We're still interviewing everyone."
Such cases generally lead to reckless or careless boating citations, depending on whether the boat operator was properly anchored or if he/she intentionally disregarded weather warnings, Dipre said.
The National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory Saturday morning warning boaters of 20-plus mph winds, rough seas and heavy rain. The conditions had prompted Jensen to delay his trip while he waited for a better weather window. It was a stroke of luck for the survivors.
"If we had gone out earlier, I never would have seen them," Jensen said. "They got another hour or so of drift time, which put them in our sight line. When I first spotted them, I could barely see them."
The FWC did not release the names of those in the boat until their relatives were notified, Dipre said. The agency released the following names of survivors on Monday:
(Names deleted)
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Safe boating
Trtldvr
[/SIZE]
One story mention that some of the men were non-swimmers. 
But then, they hadn't bothered to learn the local language either.
