PHOTO AVAILABLE: Coast Guard rescues 3 boaters, dog near Pensacola, Fl.

Coast Guard rescues 3 boaters, dog near Pensacola, Fl.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard rescued three boaters and a dog from an aground sailing vessel Monday near Fort McRee in Pensacola Pass, Florida.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a call from 911 dispatch at approximately 11 p.m. reporting an aground 40-foot sailing vessel with three people aboard. Watchstanders located the vessel's location via cellphone triangulation and coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Station Pensacola 29-foot Response Boat - Small boatcrew and a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew to assist. 

The helicopter crew arrived on scene and hoisted one teenager and deployed a rescue swimmer to the Coast Guard 29-foot RB-S before departing to re-fuel.  Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived on scene with a shallow water boatcrew and retrieved one Coast Guard member from the RB-S to assist with rescue of the remaining two boaters and their dog from the aground vessel.  

All three individuals and their dog were transferred safely to Pensacola International Airport in stable condition with no injuries.

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-USCG-