Auxiliary Flotilla News

Passenger Vessel Goes Adrift Off Galveston

A passenger vessel lost steering and went a drift in a highly trafficked area near Galveston, Texas, on Saturday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Houston-Galveston received a call on VHF-FM channel 16 at about 11 a.m. from the captain of the Baywatch Too stating the dolphin sightseeing vessel had lost steering and was drifting toward a dredge pipe near Seawolf Park with 33 people on board.The Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Galveston 45-foot Response Boat–Medium (RB–M) crew.

Struggling Florida Swimmer Spends Night on Channel Marker

A 31-year-old woman was rescued by the Coast Guard Auxiliary after she was spotted clinging to a channel marker near Matanzas Pass, Fla., having been swept out to sea and forced to cling to the navigation channel marker for 7 hours on New Year's Eve. The boatcrew from Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 91 was on a routine patrol when they located the woman, at 7-45 a.m. on New Year's Day, removed her from the marker and brought her aboard. The woman, who showed signs of hypothermia was immediately transferred to hospital…