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Coast Guard Saves 9 Boaters On Busy Afternoon

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TBO.com

Published: August 12, 2008

Nine boaters were rescued by the Coast Guard in three incidents near Homosassa on Tuesday after storms passed through the area, the guard reported.

About 1:15 p.m., a man called the Coast Guard to report the 16-foot boat he and a friend were on was taking on water two miles west of the Homosassa River. The guard sent a response boat and a helicopter to assist the boaters.

While they were en route, a call came in from a second boater, who said his 18-foot boat was sinking, and he and two boaters were clinging to a channel marker piling in the Crystal River Barge Canal. The boater also said a fourth person was clinging to the sinking boat, which was drifting out of sight.

After rescuing the boaters from the original call, the Coast Guard boat headed to the barge canal and retrieved the other four boaters.

The Crystal River boaters then told the Coast Guard crew they spotted another boat in distress with three people aboard. The crew located three more boaters on an island two miles southwest of the Homosassa River about 3 p.m.

All of the boaters were taken to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat ramp on the Crystal River Barge Canal, where they received medical treatment from Emergency Medical Service personnel and were released.

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