Just after 10:00 pm, our team was paged to assist with two jet skis that had broken down. The on-call crew quickly mustered at the boathouse and, following a briefing, departed the base 20 minutes later. It took about 15 minutes to arrive in the area, where we immediately began a search using our searchlights. The crew could hear the owners calling out in the darkness.
We located the two people on shore shortly before 11:00 pm. They were wet, cold, and exhausted but otherwise in good condition and didn’t require medical attention. They explained that one jet ski had caught fire and partially sunk. The operator managed to get on board the other jet ski, but as they tried to figure out how to recover the sunken one, they ran out of fuel. One of the owners, who was wearing a wet suit, jumped into the water and pushed the out-of-fuel jet ski – with his friend onboard – to the shore, securing it with a line. With only one cell phone between them, and its battery at a critical 1%, they called for assistance.
With both owners now safely on board, we started searching for the partially submerged jet ski. At 11:12 pm, after some time searching, we located the sunken jet ski. Fortunately, there was no fuel spill, and we took it under tow. Next, we retrieved the second jet ski that was secured to the shore.
At 11:34 pm, with both jet skis in tow, we headed to a nearby boat ramp, arriving 20 minutes later. Once both vessels were secured to the dock, we headed back to base. By half past midnight, we had secured the boat and equipment and were ready to head home.