In June two of my friends and I decided to cruise out to Grande Cay for a little R&R. We had a gentle headwind so we were taking it slow around 10 knots. When we came up on the Bahamas Bank about 60 miles out of Stuart we started taking on water. At the time, we had no idea what was causing it so two of us started bailing and the third guy redirected our course to West End. After about 20 minutes I realized we weren’t going to make it so I fired my beacon and we put out a distress call. We contacted a sailboat who was relaying our communication with the Coast Guard.

After about 20 minutes we spotted the sailboat, knowing we weren’t going to make it we decided to head for the boat. We had just enough time to get on the boat as I watched my Andros go down by the stern and roll. I looked up and the Coast Guard chopper was arriving on scene. The Coast Guard requested we stay on the sail boat until we got closer to the bank so they could send a rib off the cutter. We stayed on the cutter from 10 pm until about 8:30 the next morning, when the Coast Guard sent a patrol boat out of West Palm.

Thanks to the beacon, the sailboat, and the U.S. Coast Guards this story had a happy ending!