Coast Guard Cape Charles - CBBT Rescue

The Coast Guard rescued three adults from a sinking boat approximately two miles from the third island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, just before dark.A 911 dispatcher contacted Station Cape Charles watchstanders at 8 p.m., stating they received a call from someone aboard a sinking 19-foot boat. A 25-foot rescue boat was launched from the station to search for the boat.A rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and boat crews from the Virginia Marine Police and the Virginia Beach Fire Department also searched for the boat.Reported Petty Officer 1st Class John Soderstrom, the rescue boat coxswain, "When we got to the third island of the bridge tunnel, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel police were searching from the island and there were several recreational boats in the water. We didn't see anything around the island, so we were about to start a search pattern with the last 10 minutes of light that we had remaining."Then, Petty Officer 3rd Class Aron Flavin saw something about two miles from the island. With binoculars, they saw a man waving at them from the bow of a partially-submerged boat and two other adults clinging to it in the water. The station crew pulled them out of the water and transported them to Lynnhaven Marina in Virginia Beach.All three passengers of the sinking vessel had life vests.