PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard assisted eight people Saturday aboard a recreational fishing boat that was taking on water approximately 45 miles east of Cape Henry.
Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders received a call from the operator of the 46-foot sport fishing boat Sitting Pretty at about 10 a.m., stating they were taking on water with six adults and two children aboard.
Coast Guard Station Little Creek in Virginia Beach launched a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RBM) crew to assist.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew, who were already airborne and returning from an unrelated medevac at the time, diverted their courses to respond.
The helicopter crew arrived on scene and lowered a dewatering pump to the distressed fishermen.
The Hercules aircraft crew arrived on scene to monitor the Sitting Pretty’s crew dewater their boat and attempt to stop the source of the leak.
The RBM crew arrived on scene to find the vessel dewatered and the leak stopped. The RBM crew then escorted the Sitting Pretty to Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach.
