Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class John Ward, a boatswain’s mate assigned to Coast Guard Station Sabine, uses oakum and a rubber gasket to slow the flooding aboard a 31-foot sailing vessel 35 miles southeast of Sabine, Texas, Feb. 21, 2024. A Coast Guard boat crew partially dewatered the vessel and then transported the two boaters safely ashore. (U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy Station Sabine)