The Coast Guard says they rescued seven people from a sport fishing boat off of the coast of Cape May Sunday afternoon.

According to officials, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay received a report at about 1:20 PM Sunday that a 40-foot sport fishing boat located 69 miles southwest of Cape May with seven people aboard had been beset by weather in 10-foot seas.

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They say,

The crew of the vessel activated their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) when conditions continued to deteriorate. Coast Guard crews aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Indian River were launched to assist. All seven people were hoisted and taken to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City where local EMS was standing by to assist.

At the time of the rescue, the National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory for the area for the potential of 4-6 foot seas with winds gusting up to 30 knots.

In a statement, Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Petrenko said, "One of the scariest and most unpredictable places you can be is out on the water in a storm. Fortunately, they had life jackets, a registered EPIRB and a radio, which they used to call for help. If any one of those pieces had been missing, we might not have been as successful as we were."

SOURCE: U.S. Coast Guard press release, 07/26/21

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