What started as an abandoned vessel check ended in the rescue of two Texans diving off of Fort Lauderdale beach on Saturday, thanks to the quick thinking of a Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue team.
Officials said just after 2 p.m., a boat drifted in from a reef off of the coast of the 500 block of North Atlantic Boulevard. Lifeguard Tyler Duncan paddled out, hopped on board the 20 to 30 foot vessel and gave a holler to announce he was there.
No one was on board, but he decided to check what was inside the boat. There the lifeguard found dive gear, said Lt. Mitch McCrady, and he knew something was amiss. Dive gear was an indicator the boat didn't just drift out in the ocean, McCrady said. Someone had been on the boat but it got away from them.
Duncan "came back to shore and alerted us that it wasn't abandoned," McCrady said. "We decided we should get the jet skis and went out for a search and recovery."
McCrady said he was standing on shore scanning the horizon with binoculars as two fire rescue officials hopped on jet skis and headed toward the reef. Considering the placement of the mooring buoy near the reef and the direction of the wind, he began scanning the waters to the west.
And there they were two black specks bobbing in the water, trying to stay afloat.
"They were pretty far out there," he said, estimating they were at least 3/4 of a mile off shore. "You could see their heads, and they were kicking back because they had all their gear on."
The divers were a father and son from Texas who frequent the area, McCrady said. They had tied their boat to the mooring buoy, but the rough weather caused the anchor to snap, leaving the diver's stranded.
"The storm was rolling in, the water was very choppy," said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Capt. Greg May.
McCrady said the divers were stranded for about 45 minutes. They were tired and thankful, he said, and walked away without a scratch. They weren't transported to the hospital, but their boat was towed. McCrady said hedidn't know the divers' names.
The event proved somewhat useful: it was a chance for ocean rescue members practice their skills with a positive outcome.
"We always like these kind of things we get training, nobody got hurt and everything turned out fine," he said. "For us, this kind of training is priceless."
