Russell Bolton News

The boat Russell Bolton lives on off the coast of St. Augustine Beach sunk when it collided into a barge. Bolton says he didn't know what it was he was stepping onto, but he knew it was safer than what he'd been on. The Coast Guard filmed the rescue. His boat went down almost immediately. And when the people on the barge found him, they thought he was a stowaway. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident. Source: First Coast News

Russell Bolton, 51, of Green Cove Springs, Fla., tells boarding officers about his ordeal. The Coast Guard received a call from the tug Ybor City from Jacksonville, Fla., reporting they had a stowaway aboard the 115-foot barge they were towing. A Coast Guard boarding team along with a Customs and Border Protection officer thought they were going to detain a possible stow away. Actually, Bolton's sailing vessel collided with the barge before sunrise that morning. Bolton had to jump aboard the barge to keep from falling in the water. Coast Guard and CBP officers verified the man's story and took him back to shore. Coast Guard photo by PA1 Donnie Brzuska. The Coast Guard has removed a man found on a barge this morning whose sailing vessel collided with a tug and barge.