3 Boaters Rescued Off Pasco County’s Coastline

PORT RICHEY, FL — Three people are back on dry land after their 33-foot boat began taking on water about 100 miles west of Port Richey’s coastline Wednesday afternoon.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, its watch standers at Sector St. Petersburg received a mayday call just after 2 p.m. March 8. Those onboard the vessel, told guard members their boat was taking on water.

Coast guard crews from St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Sand Key swung into action after receiving the call.

Just before 3 p.m., the crew aboard the Cutter Tarpon out of St. Petersburg spotted the boat.

“The three boaters reported their boat was not flooding as long as the boat remained moving,” a Thursday email from the coast guard said.

With that in mind, the Tarpon’s crew escorted the boat back toward shore until it ran out of gas about 23 miles offshore and started taking on water again. The guard then jumped in to patch the source of the leak, the email said. The boat made it back to shore without further incident after a commercial salvage company provided fuel to keep it going, the agency noted.

No one on the boat was injured. The guard has not identified those involved.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard