Boaters saved by Coast Guard

PAMLICO SOUND, N.C (WAVY) - Three people are safe after their sailboat "The Honey Badger" ran aground off the North Carolina coast over the weekend. A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted the boaters from the water near Rawls Island.

Lieutenant Kristen Jaekel was at the controls of a Coast Guard Jayhawk during the rescue.

"Every hoist is going to be different and sailboats are always the tricky ones," Jaekel said.

The boaters aboard the 26-foot sailboat made a mayday call via VHF-FM channel 16, notifying Coast Guard watch standers that their boat was on a shoal. A 47-foot Motor Life Boat (MLB) from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet was launched, along with the aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City. The MLB and Jayhawk crews arrived on scene at approximately 2:45 p.m. The MLB crew was unable to reach the sailboat due to shallow water.

When the air crew arrived it was getting getting dark. WAVY.com was told it was raining and very windy.

"They (boaters) were probably already uncomfortable," Jaekel added. "They were cold, they don't know how long they were going to be out there, so it's probably almost as exciting for us to see them as they were to see us."

The crew decided to drop down the basket to get the men to safety.

"The reports that they sent us over the radio was that their rudder was broken," Jaekel explained. "They had no anchor and if you run aground, there's a chance that you could have put a hole in the boat."

The boaters were plucked out of the water one by one.

"We can hear them ( the boaters) in the back hooting and hollering over the noise of the rotor head," Jaekel said. "Immediately when we landed back at the air station, they shook all of our hands and said, 'You guys were awesome.'"