2 rescued after small boat capsizes

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Two men survived a harrowing day at sea after their small boat capsized on the Intercoastal Waterway.

The two men went out boating on the 9-foot vessel in the waters of Biscayne Bay, just off Morningside Park, when the boat capsized sometime about 11:30 in the morning, Tuesday.

The choppy waters and windy conditions contributed to the boat flipping over, leaving the men to try and find a way out of the water.

Danny, one of the boaters, managed to make it out of the bay and called 911; meanwhile, his friend was stranded at sea. "I couldn't see him. He was behind the boat," Danny said.

The second boater clung to the vessel for about a half-hour before Miami Fire Rescue units arrived at the scene. "The two men were thrown in the water," said Miami Fire Rescue Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll. "One had a life preserver on and was able to cling on to a cooler that they had in there, but he was trying to get a hold of his friend, who didn't have the life preserver on."

Crews were concerned that they lost a visual of the boater stranded at sea. Carroll said, "We kept getting more and more information that there was somebody clinging on to the boat, and then, at one point in time, they said they couldn't see the person anymore, so you can imagine the adrenaline rush from the firefighters that were responding here."

Rescue units ventured out into the water and eventually found the stranded boater and brought him back to shore.

The rescued man was a little shaken up and slightly bloodied, but he is expected to be OK. Both men are thankful they are safe and back on dry land. "I feel very lucky, very good. Thank God," said Danny.

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