Coast Guard, Good Samaritan vessel “One Life” rescue a U.S. Virgin Islands’ boater from capsized catamaran off Culebra Island, Puerto Rico [Image 2 of 2]

PUERTO RICO

08.20.2019

Courtesy Photo

U.S. Coast Guard District 7 PADET San Juan

Coast Guard crews and the Good Samaritan vessel “One Life” combined efforts to rescue a man, Mr. Kevin Wenk, from the water Tuesday, after his 12-foot catamaran capsized north of Culebra Island, Puerto Rico.

"This Search and Rescue case highlights the importance of having a VHF Marine Radio onboard all maritime vessels,” said Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Phipps, Chief of the Sector San Juan Command Center. “The Coast Guard listens to VHF Ch. 16 twenty-four hours a day. Based on the VHF Channel 16 transmission, we quickly acquired a Line of Bearing from the handheld waterproof VHF marine radio transmission, which allowed us to vector responding assets to his position. We were also able to talk to Mr. Wenk directly and keep in contact with him until assistance arrived.”

Graphic depicting VHF vs Cellular Coverage based on the height above sea level of the Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 towers in Puerto Rico and the USVI’s, the VHF coverage factor is 10-15x larger than the typical cellular phone company coverage map.

• Date Taken: 08.20.2019
• Date Posted: 08.20.2019 15:53
• Photo ID: 5684512
• VIRIN: 190820-G-G0107-2001
• Resolution: 960x720
• Size: 172.89 KB
• Location: PR