A Coast Guard helicopter rescued a man and his daughter early Sunday after their tugboat ran aground and began taking on water at the mouth of the York River.
Watchstanders at the Sector Hampton Roads Command Center in Portsmouth were notified by the man’s wife shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday that her husband and 10-year-old daughter were overdue in arriving at the Merrimac Shores Yacht Basin in Hampton. The pair were traveling from West Point to Hampton, the Coast Guard said.
Watchstanders established contact with the man about 12:45 a.m. Sunday and were told that his 10-foot tugboat had run aground near Poquoson Flats. The boat’s battery had died, the bilge pump had malfunctioned, and the boat was taking on water, the Coast Guard said.
A response boat boat crew from the Coast Guard station in Cape Charles and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, responded to the boat, as did boat crews from Hampton Fire and Rescue, the Hampton Police Department, Poquoson Fire-Rescue and York County Fire and Rescue.
The helicopter crew arrived on the scene and located the grounded tugboat. However, because of the shallowness of the water, the rescue boat crews were unable to reach the man and his daughter, the Coast Guard said.
The helicopter crew hoisted the two people and transported them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk for medical evaluation.
Boaters should always use a float plan whenever they set out on the water, the Coast Guard said.
“Anytime you’re planning on making a trip of any distance, be sure to let a family member or close friend know where you’re going and what time you should arrive,” said Jeffry Fox, civilian search and rescue specialist at Sector Hampton Roads. “In this case, the use of a float plan helped us team up with multiple local agencies to assist this man and his daughter.”