Coast Guard rescues a boater and two kayakers on Sept. 15 

The U.S. Coast Guard made two rescues on Saturday, Sept. 15, in eastern North Carolina.  One was early Saturday morning near Swan Quarter, and the other was Saturday evening off Cape Hatteras.

In the Saturday evening incident, The Coast Guard rescuers came to the aid of two kayakers stranded on a sandbar east of Cape Hatteras.

Dare County 911 personnel contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at approximately 7:30 p.m. reporting that local rescuers were within the vicinity of two stranded kayakers but were unable to reach them because of the surf conditions and shallow water.

Sector North Carolina watchstanders dispatched crews aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and a 25-foot Response Boat – Small from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet.

The Jayhawk crew arrived on scene, rescued two kayakers, and transported them to the Billy Mitchell Airfield where the two people were transferred to Dare County Emergency Medical Services personnel with no reported injuries.

“This was a great coordinated evolution involving a Coast Guard helicopter, a Coast Guard station and a local rescue unit in assisting two stranded kayakers,” said Chief Petty Officer Jeremy Johnson, the command duty officer at Sector North Carolina. “We had a higher level of apprehension due to the degrading weather conditions and the fact that the mariners were not wearing life jackets.”

The crew at Station Hatteras Inlet had just finished participating in the annual Blessing of the Fleet and Day at the Docks celebration on the harbor in Hatteras village.  Two Coast Guard response boat participated in the annual parade of boats that preceded the Blessing of the Fleet.

Earlier Saturday, The Coast Guard located and medevaced a 48-year-old man aboard an overdue 23-foot pleasure craft on the Pungo River near Swan Quarter, N.C.

A family member contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at approximately 1:45 a.m., reporting the man aboard a 23-foot pleasure craft did not return as expected at 10 p.m. Friday.

Sector North Carolina watchstanders dispatched crews aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and a 25-foot Response Boat – Small from Coast Guard Station Hobucken, N.C., to begin searching for the missing man. A Beaufort County Deputy assisted by visiting the family’s home to gather more information.

The Jayhawk crew located the overdue boat aground at approximately 6 a.m. and medevaced the man, reportedly suffering from a laceration and a leg injury.

The Jayhawk crew took the man to Vidant Beaufort Hospital in Washington, N.C.

“The family was able to relay the man’s approximate location to the Coast Guard,” said Chief Petty Officer Delain Tate, the operations unit controller at Sector North Carolina. “This allowed us to narrow our search area and locate the man in a timely manner.”