Rescuers save 4 men after boat sank near Cat Island

Four stranded boaters were rescued Saturday afternoon after their boat sank near Cat Island Creek in a group effort between several emergency response teams.

The 17-foot boat went down around 4:40 p.m., leaving them stuck in the marsh about 500 yards away from land in 52-degree water as the tide crept in, Beaufort Water Search and Rescue Skipper Clay Emminger said on Sunday afternoon. By 5:30 p.m. Saturday, everyone was safe and out of the water.

No one was injured, and it is still unknown was caused the boat to sink, Lady’s Island-St. Helena Island Fire District spokesman Scott Harris said on Sunday afternoon.

When the boat started taking on water, one of the four men called 911, Emminger said. When dispatch called back for more information, the line was dead. That’s when Emminger knew they were already in the water, where hypothermia was a real threat.

“Time is definitely of the essence, especially this time of year,” Emminger said.

Because the water where the men were stranded was too shallow for boats, a Parris Island Fire Department rescue swimmer was called in to assist, Emminger said. Had the tide been higher, the partially dry marsh area where the men waited for rescue would have been underwater, leaving them to battle the cold and the currents.

“They would have been at the mercy of the water,” Emminger said. “There’s no way they could have gotten back to land.”

The rescue swimmer, ready with a life ring, brought the men one by one to waiting rescue boats, which ferried them to a nearby private dock, Emminger said. From there, they were brought to emergency medical responders ready on scene.

The men left their life vests on the sinking boat, something Emminger said he would caution against in a situation like this. Whenever it is necessary to abandon a boat of any size, it’s important to have a way to communicate with rescuers on shore and some kind of flotation device ready and with you, he said.

The rescue came about through the combined efforts of Beaufort Water Search and Rescue, Parris Island Fire Department, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Lady’s Island-St. Helena Island Fire District, Beaufort County EMS, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Beaufort County Dispatch Center.

This story was originally published January 29, 2017 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Rescuers save 4 men after boat sank near Cat Island."