Four People Survive for 20 Hours Aboard Upturned Catamaran

On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued four people from the upturned hull of a pleasure vessel about 26 miles off the coast of Clearwater, Florida. The boat's passengers had been stranded at sea for about 20 hours overnight.

The four family members aboard the boat got under way on Monday at about 0930 hours, planning to return in the afternoon. At about 2100 hours on Monday night, a family member ashore contacted the Coast Guard and reported that the small 24-foot boat was overdue.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg launched multiple search crews, including an HC-144 SAR plane aircrew, which located the vessel at about 0715 hours on Tuesday. The boat had capsized, and was drifting in calm conditions of 2-3 foot seas and winds of about 5-10 knots. The aircrew dropped an inflatable life raft and a location marker in anticipation of a surface vessel rescue.

Shortly after, a boat crew out of Station Sand Key arrived on scene and rescued the boaters. The four boaters were in stable condition, and the crew transported them to an EMS team at Station Sand Key for evaluation.

The survivors have been named as Dennis Woods, 70, Clarence Woods, 90, Cris Harding Sr., 42 and Chris Harding Jr., 18. Woods told Fox News that water had filled one side of the catamaran, and that it capsized within about five minutes. Water temperatures near Clearwater were about 72 degrees, within the survivable range for an extended period.

"Through the efforts of multiple Coast Guard crews and partner agencies we were able to safely recover the missing boaters and reunite them with their loved ones," said Ensign Gaige Garrett, Operational Unit Controller at Sector St Petersburg Command Center. "We want to remind anyone going out on the water to have all necessary safety equipment to include Coast Guard approved life jackets, VHF radio, signaling devices and an emergency position locator beacon or personal locator beacon."