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U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Yacht in the Middle of Hurricane Debby

Yacht rescue
Courtesy USCG

Published Aug 4, 2024 10:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

On Sunday, as Tropical Storm Debby strengthened into a hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued two people from a disabled yacht about 70 nautical miles off Boca Grande, Florida. 

On Saturday evening, a concerned citizen called Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg to report that two friends had missed a check-in while under way on a transit from Key West to Tarpon Springs. The two men were aboard a 34-foot yacht off Florida's Gulf coast, just as Tropical Storm Debby was heading north and picking up strength. At some point along their journey Saturday, the yacht lost its sails in the high winds. 

The friend provided the Coast Guard with an updated satellite position for the yacht, and an HC-144 SAR aircraft spotted it at 1100 hours Sunday morning. It was close enough to shore for a helicopter medevac, so an MH-60 Jayhawk SAR helicopter out of Air Station Clearview rendezvoused with the stricken vessel and hoisted the two men aboard. Conditions for a rescue were challenging, including 15-20 foot seas, low visibility and wind speeds of about 50 knots. 

Hurricane Debby is also causing damage on shore. The storm's heavy rains caused flooding in the Tampa Bay area as Debby brushed past, and high winds and rough surface conditions prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to close Port Tampa Bay temporarily until the storm has passed. The closure will briefly affect Margaritaville at Sea's cruise ship Islander, which will be returning to Tampa a day late because of the port shutdown. 

The storm is currently on track to make landfall in the Big Bend area on Monday morning. Rainfall may well be its biggest impact: The storm will dump "potentially historic" amounts of rain across southeast Georgia and South Carolina through Friday morning, likely causing flash flooding. Debby will also bring dangerous storm surge of 6-10 feet to a broad swath of Florida's central Gulf coast. 

Debby's structure became more organized Sunday, and the National Hurricane Center believes that more strengthening is likely overnight Sunday. The storm is moving north over very warm waters, and the high-altitude wind conditions favor storm development. 

In preparation, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency across almost all of the state, and has activated 3,000 members of the National Guard. Florida's utilities are staging powerline crews to be ready to make swift repairs once they get the all-clear. 

After Debby passes over the Southeast, the storm will head out to sea again, where it will likely strengthen once more. Its track and intensity after reaching the Atlantic are still very uncertain, NHC cautioned.