FREEPORT, Texas – A Coast Guard boat crew saved a family of six from a sinking sailboat Sunday about four miles northeast of the Freeport jetties.
Coast Guard crews received a Mayday call from the 40-foot sailboat, Providence, at about 1 a.m. The victims said they were taking on water. The family said their boat hit a large, submerged tree, causing the engine boot seal to fail. The on-board bilge could not keep up with the flooding.
The Station Freeport boat crew towed the family back to Old River City Marina in Freeport. The Coast Guard is staying with the boat and dewatering pump until TowBoat U.S. can take it somewhere to get pulled out of the water.
TowBoat U.S. was expected to arrive Sunday morning.
The family is from Norman, Oklahoma, and departed from Galveston, where the boat is kept.
The family includes a father, mother, three daughters and the youngest child was the only minor, a 17-year-old son.