It went viral in late September. The visual shown above, that is, which captures a tender moment during a jaw-dropping rescue in the Gulf of Mexico, 25 miles off Sanibel Island as Hurricane Helene approached Florida. It’s a clip from a video that was shared hours after a man and his dog were pulled from storm-tossed seas by the Coast Guard because the man’s 36-foot sailboat had become disabled and was taking on water. The video opens with Petty Officer 2nd Class Todd Hudson from Air Station Clearwater, descending from a helicopter. Once Hudson is close to the boat, the man and dog clamber overboard. Hudson gets them clipped into a rescue basket and hoisted up. The video ends with the man holding his dog in the helicopter, exchanging high-fives with his rescuers.
It was a reminder of the countless ways the Coast Guard has our backs. Another reminder came just a few weeks later, when a second USCG video almost broke the internet. That one documented the rescue of a boat captain, who rode out Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico before he was found clinging to a cooler off Longboat Key.
The man was the captain of a fishing vessel that broke down Monday, October 7, off Madeira Beach, Florida. The crew left the boat at sea while salvage arrangements were made. But on Wednesday, the boat’s owner told the Coast Guard the captain had gone back to make repairs that morning, and he hadn’t been heard from in hours.
Watchstanders for the Coast Guard were able to make radio contact with the captain, who said a line had fouled the rudder and disabled the boat. With Milton approaching, the Coast Guard instructed the captain to put on a life jacket and stay with the vessel’s locator beacon. Authorities lost communication with the captain on Wednesday night, but they were able to find him the following afternoon.
“He experienced 75- to 90-mph winds and 20- to 25-foot seas,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, Sector St. Petersburg’s command center chief, in a statement. “He survived because of a life jacket, his locator beacon and a cooler.”
His survival is also the result of the Coast Guard’s unwavering efforts to bring him back home.
Those were the Coast Guard stories that made national news in the span of just a few weeks. But in that time frame, the Coasties were busy doing so much more. A USCG crew offloaded $4.3 million in seized cocaine before transferring two smugglers to DEA custody. Haitian migrants left stranded by smugglers on Monito Island in Puerto Rico were rescued. Two ailing men were medevacked from a cruise ship off Hawaii. The list goes on.
It’s no secret that the USCG gives its all to recreational boaters, and many others. But did you know you can give something back to them too?
The Coast Guard Foundation is a nonprofit group that supports the Coasties. It recently activated its emergency disaster relief program for the seventh time this year, to assist Coast Guard members and their families who have been affected by natural disasters, including hurricanes Milton and Helene. The program helps these families cover the costs of home repairs, replacement of household goods, temporary housing and insurance deductibles, among other things. “This support,” writes the Foundation, “helps reassure Coast Guard members that their needs and personal losses are addressed while they continue to provide lifesaving support for others.”
The Soundings team is familiar with the Foundation and its important work. To do it well, they need donations. You can learn more about the organization at coastguardfoundation.org. There, you’ll read about the group’s mission to continuously provide assistance to USCG members and their loved ones. That message, I think, is one that should go viral.
Jeanne Craig
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