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Coast Guard Rescues 4 People After Boat Sinks In Gulf

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TBO.com

Published: October 4, 2008

CLEARWATER - The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four fishermen Friday morning after their boat sank in the Gulf of Mexico about 32 miles from Clearwater, Coast Guard officials said.

The quartet had made it into a life raft before they were picked up about 7:40 a.m., officials said.

The four were identified as Capt. Darren Stanwood, 44, of Orlando; Tom Hunter, 46, of Zephyrhills; Dennis Grimm, 53, of Madeira Beach; and Lisa Mercer, 42, of Hudson. The boat that sank was the Lady Juanita, a 32-foot commercial fishing boat typically docked in Madeira Beach.

After the crew noticed the vessel was riding low in the water, a crew member opened up a forward compartment and noticed it was flooded, Coast Guard officials said. Four-foot waves started crashing over the bow, and the boat quickly took on water, officials said.

The captain contacted the Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg via radio and relayed the vessel's coordinates at 6:29 a.m., officials said. The four people abandoned the ship four minutes later and got into a life raft before the boat sank.

A coast guard helicopter spotted the life raft at 7:11 a.m. and began hoisting the crew onto the helicopter, the Coast Guard said.

"The fact that the Lady Juanita crew members kept the proper lifesaving equipment onboard the vessel was instrumental in saving their lives," said Petty Officer 1st Class Heath Montembeault, an operations controller at the Coast Guard station.

"They used a marine radio, life jackets and a life raft, and gave us quick, clear and concise information that helped us coordinate their rescue," Montembeault said.

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