Coast Guard Saves Man, Dog off Florida During Hurricane Helene

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater helicopter crew rescues a man and his dog from a disabled and taking-on-water 36-foot sailing vessel 25 miles off Sanibel Island, Florida, on Sept. 26, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy of Air Station Clearwater)

Merced Sun-Star | By Mark Price

Published September 27, 2024 at 1:33pm ET

A mariner sailing in the path of Hurricane Helene was rescued in dramatic fashion when his boat started sinking off southwest Florida, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Clearwater.

The distress call was received around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, with a 64-year-old man reporting his 36-foot sailboat was disabled and “started taking on water approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island.”

Helene’s winds were intensifying at the time, from a Category 2 storm to a Category 3 storm, and U.S. Coast Guard air units took a “calculated risk” the mission could be completed without additional loss of life, officials said.

A mariner and his dog were rescued from a sailboat as it sank off southwest Florida in the wake of passing Hurricane Helene, the U.S. Coast Guard reports. USCG photo edited by LCDR Scott Kellerman

Video shared on social media shows the boat was still afloat when an MH-60 helicopter crew arrived around 2:45 p.m. and a guardsman was lowered by cable to the water.

The dog, wearing a life preserver, was the first to be pushed off the teetering boat, followed by its master. The two then swam to a basket and were hoisted into a helicopter.

Hurricane Helene’s winds were near 120 mph at the time, making it an extremely dangerous storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“The seas were terrible and the winds were worse,” Chief Petty Officer Nicole J. Groll told McClatchy News. “If rescuers go down, nobody is getting rescued. This was a calculated risk we took to go out there, but we were confident we’d find him and bring him back.”

The mariner, who was not identified, was taken to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers and examined for injuries, officials said. He then coordinated transportation to his home, officials said.

Helene made landfall in Taylor County in the Panhandle at approximately 11:10 p.m. as a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Sanibel Island is about a 160-mile drive south from Tampa.

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