COAST GUARD, AIR FORCE SAVE FOUR MISSING BOATERS

JACKSONVILLE, FLA.

Story and Photos By PA1 Donnie Brzuska, PADET Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Four men are safe after their vessel capsized off the coast of Mayport, Fla., Sept. 30 at about 8 a.m. thanks to the efforts of a multi-service rescue operation coordinated by Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FL - A Coast Guard crew from Station Mayport, FL, transfers John Hodgkiss to paramedics from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. Hodgkiss was one of five boaters rescued off the Florida Coast Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The crew from Station Mayport rescued three of the five missing boaters. A good Samaritan picked up one of the missing boaters Sept. 30, and a Patrick Air Force Base helicopter resecued the fifth. Surface and air assets from the Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office all assisted in the search. Coast Guard photograph by PA1 Donnie Brzuska, PADET Jacksonville.

Michael Vitko, 27; John Hodgkiss, 22; Clinton Daughtry, 27; Chip Bloomer, 40, all from Middleburg, Fla.; and Travis Britt, 22, of Glen Saint Mary, Fla., set out for a day of fishing off the Florida Coast. Only minutes after the men got their lines in the water, a wave washed over the stern capsizing their 17-foot pleasure craft about 10-miles east of Mayport.

After a few hours with the boat, Vitko, Hodgkiss, Britt and Daughtry decided to swim for shore. The men would not be seen again for almost 24 hours.

Bloomer chose to stay with the boat and was rescued by a good Samaritan at 6.45 p.m. Sept. 30. The good Samaritan radioed rescue coordinators at Sector Jacksonville. Bloomer was transported to land by the good Samaritan where he was treated and released by EMS crews.

After receiving the call, Coast Guard boat crews from Mayport and aircrews from Savannah, Ga., and Clearwater, Fla., joined in the search. The Navy and Air Force also provided helicopters as the search continued.

Bloomer told Coast Guard officers who interviewed him that all four of the men still missing were wearing lifejackets. This gave hope to rescue crews and coordinators.
During the night, the four men were separated. Only Hodgkiss and Britt were able to stay together. Vitko and Daughtry were alone through the ordeal. According to Britt and Hodgkiss, small sharks circled them throughout the day and night.

One small shark managed to bite Vitko, who was swimming by himself, on his "backside," said the exhausted boater from a hospital bed.

After nearly 18 hours of searching, a Coast Guard 47-foot rescue boat from Station Mayport located Hodgkiss and Britt about six-miles offshore at 8:20 a.m.

"One of the crewmen saw a hand wave. We were heading straight for them," said Daniel Yates, a crew member on the 47-foot rescue boat that rescued Britt and Hodgkiss. The crew had been searching for more than nine-hours before they found the two. "It was an amazing feeling of excitement and relief to find them."

Vitko was located by a Coast Guard helicopter from Savannah at about 8:30 a.m. The Coast Guard aircrew directed the station boat crew to Vitko's position, which was about three-miles offshore and about three-miles away from Hodgkiss and Britt. The rescue crew pulled Vitko from the water.

"It was the greatest feeling in the world when they got their hands on us and pulled us out of the water," said Hodgkiss.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A family member of a man rescued approximately five-miles east of Mayport, Fla., hugs Petty Officer 3rd Class Joshua Cook from Station Mayport out of gratitude. A crew from Coast Guard Station Mayport rescued three boaters this morning after their vessel capsized Sept. 30 at about 8 a.m. Another man was rescued by a helicopter crew from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. Coast Guard photograph by PA1 Donnie Brzuska, PADET Jacksonville.

Family and friends waited for the three men on the pier at Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville. The men coming back were not the same men that left the day before. Exhausted and hypothermic from being tossed by the sea for almost 24-hours, the men had to be carried off by Coast Guard and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department crews.

"I never lost hope that the Coast Guard would find them. They've (the Coast Guard) done their job, and I appreciate it," said Travis Britt's father-in-law, Michael Nobles, as he fought back tears.

The three rescued men were taken to Sector Jacksonville where they were transferred to Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department EMS at about 9:30 a.m. All three men were taken to Baptist Medical Center Beaches in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and were treated and released.

Family members of the three men were elated at the arrival of their loved ones. No less than 15 family and friends waited for the men to come ashore. After the men were put into ambulances, some of family members began hugging and thanking the men and women who brought their loved ones home safe.

Daughtry was located four-miles offshore and three-miles south of where Vitko was found at about 12:30 p.m. by a helicopter from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. The Air Force helicopter airlifted Daughtry and transported him to Craig Municipal Airport in Jacksonville. Life Flight transported Daughtry to Baptist Medical Center in Downtown Jacksonville where he was treated and released.

"I had the privilege of telling the families that their loved ones had been found. Their gratitude for what rescue crews and coordinators did was overwhelming," said Capt. Paul Thomas, Sector Jacksonville commanding officer. Thomas spent much of his time throughout the 18-hour search either with family members or talking to them over the phone.

Two Air Force helicopters from Patrick Air Force Base, a Navy fixed wing aircraft and helicopter from Naval Station Mayport, two Coast Guard rescue boats from Station Mayport, Coast Guard rescue helicopters from Air Station Savannah, and Air Station Clearwater, and a helicopter from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office all participated in the search.