U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued 10 people from a 22-foot pontoon boat that started taking on water southeast of Bald Head Island on Thursday.
A good Samaritan notified the Coast Guard about the distressed boaters at 10:40 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release issued Friday from the U.S. Coast Guard.
The pontoon boat was traveling to Bald Head Island when it took on water from oncoming waves while trying to cross the entrance to Cape Fear River. One of the boaters fell overboard, the release states.
The Coast Guard diverted two Oak Island boat crews, which were training in the area. Crews located the pontoon boat at 10:45 a.m., rescued the boater who fell overboard and safely transferred all the people on board to a Coast Guard boat.
“The Coast Guard would like to remind mariners to wear a life jacket and to check the weather and tides prior to their departure from port and to plan accordingly,” Senior Chief Petty Officer Anthony Kannan, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Oak Island, said.
The boaters were taken to U.S. Coast Guard Station Oak Island while a crew stayed on scene and used pumps to remove water from the pontoon boat. The pontoon boat was eventually towed to the station.
