[Ray]

*** were they thinking?

PORT O’CONNER, Texas - A Coast Guard Station Port O'Conner boat crew rescued three adults after their pleasure craft began taking on water in the Port O’Connor shipping channel Saturday
A watchstander from Station Port O’Connor received a call at 11:15 a.m. from a good Samaritan reporting that he was concerned about three people aboard a pleasure craft he had passed while returning to shore. He told the watchstander that he informed the three boaters of a rapidly approaching cold front and recommended that they return to the docks before the storm hit. Despite his efforts, the boaters but did not follow him in and continued on their voyage.
Because the wind speed and sea conditions were so harsh, the commanding officer of Station Port O’Connor, Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael Jennings, had to request special permission from Sector Corpus Christi to launch the station's 25-foot response boat in weather that exceeded its recommended safe operating parameters. The search and rescue waiver was granted, and the rescue boat crew along with an HH-65C helicopter rescue crew from Air Station Corpus Christi began searching for the boaters.
While both rescue crews were enroute, the captain of a shrimp boat hailed the Coast Guard reporting that he had just seen an adult struggling in the rough seas near Tomcat Rig. The rescue boat crew arrived on scene to find a 14-foot pleasure craft taking on water with a 65- year-old Lufkin man on board. As the conditions continued to deteriorate, the rescue crew searched for the two missing boaters. A 39-year-old Lovelady man was later found in the water nearby and was rescued. A 42-year-old woman, also from Lovelady was located moments later, clinging to Tomcat Rig half a mile away.
"Proper safety gear played a key role in the successful outcome in this case," said Petty Officer Jeremy Braasch, the coxswain of the rescue boat. "With winds gusting up to 40 knots and 6-foot seas, life jackets probably saved these peoples’ lives today," Braasch said.
All three survivors were wearing life jackets.
The survivors were taken to Station Port O’Connor and were reported to be in good condition and without injury.