Coast Guard rescues 2 divers after boat capsizes
August 24th, 2015
Cortez, Fla. — The Coast Guard rescued two divers after their 22-foot boat capsized 10 miles west of Bean Point, Anna Maria, Florida, Monday. Rescued were Davin Brannon, 51, Plant City, Florida, and David Frese, 55, Dover, Florida.
At 4:01 p.m. watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., received a 911 transfer call from Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reporting two divers had entered the water after their boat capsized. They were both wearing lifejackets.
At 4:05 p.m. 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Cortez was launched, arrived on scene and pulled the men to safety.
Brannon and Frese were transferred to an Eckerd SAR boatcrew with no reported injuries.
“Due to the boaters expertise, the divers remembered their GPS position before the boat capsized, they were wearing lifejackets and they stayed with the capsized vessel,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Bragitta Lambright, a Coast Guard crewmember who helped rescue the men. “Their actions expedited the search tenfold.”
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Florida, was also launched.