VHF radio and a Coast Guard helicopter crew saved the lives of five people in an open skiff four miles off shore in the Bering Sea on Friday.
The Coast Guard got the word that day that the 22-foot skiff was drifting without power and taking on water in heavy seas off the coast of Tununak, which lies west of Bethel. News of their troubles came over the VHF radio they had on board, and was conveyed to the Coast Guard by family of the crew who were monitoring the problem from shore. The Coast Guard cutter Douglas Monro and the Canadian research vessel Frosti headed there to assist.
It was a cold night. Winds were 40 miles per hour, temperatures were 49 degrees, and seas were at 6 feet by the time the Jayhawk helicopter arrived at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday to hoist the people on board.
The Coast Guard reports that the people in the skiff did not have enough life jackets for everybody on board and that the batteries in the VHF radio were failing. It was VHF communications from both the skiff and the family on shore that helped steer the helicopter to within radio range of the drifting boat.
Lieutenant Casey Corpe, the co-pilot of a Coast Guard C-130 plane at the scene, said that he was sure that the next time they go out in the skiff, everybody will have a life jacket. He added that “if something goes wrong on the water, a life jacket can mean the difference between life and death.”
You can watch a video of the rescue here.