Portsmouth, Va. — The Coast Guard rescued two kayakers stranded on a sand bar east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., Saturday.
Dare County 911 personnel contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at approximately 7:30 p.m. reporting that local rescuers were within the vicinity of two stranded kayakers but were unable to reach them due to the surf conditions and shallow water.
The Coast Guard dispatched crews aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and a 25-foot Response Boat from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, N.C.
The Jayhawk crew arrived on scene, rescued two kayakers and transported them to the Billy Mitchell Airfield where the two people were transferred to local emergency medical services personnel with no reported injuries.
“This was a great coordinated evolution involving a Coast Guard helicopter, a Coast Guard station and a local rescue unit in assisting two stranded kayakers,” said Chief Petty Officer Jeremy Johnson, the command duty officer at Sector North Carolina. “We had a higher level of apprehension due to the degrading weather conditions and the fact that the mariners were not wearing life jackets.”
