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Five boaters, all unhurt, rescued from bay

In separate incidents, two boats sink after getting swamped by waves.

By JANET ZINK and RICHARD DANIELSON
Published July 4, 2005

Authorities rescued five boaters from Tampa Bay on Sunday in two separate incidents.

About 7 p.m., a Tampa police marine unit pulled out Mark Heath, 46, of Tampa and his sons, Justin, 20, and Joey, 26, just more than a mile north of the Howard Frankland Bridge, the Coast Guard said.

Heath's sons live in Georgia, said Tampa police Officer Scott McLean, who pulled them from the water.

Wind drove a wave over their 16-foot bass boat, McLean said, and it sank. A motorist on the bridge saw the men waving their baseball caps and called 911. The three were in the water for about 90 minutes. They were uninjured, McLean said.

"Fortunately the water is warm and they had on their life jackets - excellent decisionmaking on their part," said the marine unit's Sgt. Alan Draffin.

Earlier Sunday, about 8 a.m., Valrico brothers Mark, 18, and Anthony Hughes, 19, called the Coast Guard for help shortly before abandoning their 16-foot center console boat, which had begun sinking. The brothers climbed 15 feet up onto one of the large concrete fenders, known as "dolphins," that prevent boats from colliding with the Sunshine Skyway.

Rescuers from the Coast Guard's St. Petersburg station, Eckerd College search and rescue and St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue came to the brothers' aid shortly after 8 a.m. and took them back to Maximo Marina. Neither was injured.

The brothers told rescuers that the boat began sinking after they took a wave over the stern.

Law enforcement officials in Pinellas and Hillsborough are increasing patrols on local waterways throughout the holiday weekend.

In Tampa, officers conducted more than 40 boating inspections Sunday, Draffin said, writing 15 citations for boaters who didn't have safety equipment or proper registrations or who violated speed limits.

[Last modified July 4, 2005, 04:47:59]