U.S. Coast Guard rescues six in two separate incidents near Barnegat Light

     A Coast Guard vessel approaching the Barnegat Inlet today with a 42-foot disabled sailboat in tow. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light)

    A Coast Guard vessel approaching the Barnegat Inlet today with a 42-foot disabled sailboat in tow. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light)

    The U.S. Coast Guard rescued six people in two separate incidents involving disabled boats today. 

    A crew member aboard a 42-foot Canadian sailboat contacted the Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light around 5:30 a.m. after the vessel became disabled 25 miles offshore from Barnegat Light, according to a Coast Guard news release. 

    The engine was inoperable, with four people aboard, and they could not use the rudder, the crew member told the Coast Guard station. A 47-foot motor life boat responded and towed the sailboat, arriving in the Barnegat Inlet at 12:45 p.m., according to a posting on the U.S. Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light Facebook page

    The second incident occurred around 8:30 a.m., when a person aboard a 21-foot center console boat called the Coast Guard to report that the vessel had run aground in the Oyster Creek, which flows into the Barnegat Bay, the release said. 

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    The other boat occupant, a 47-year-old man, suffered an injury after striking his head on the windshield, the caller said.  

    The Coast Guard launched a 24-foot shallow water craft and transported the man to the Coast Guard station dock in Barnegat Light, where an ambulance was waiting. 

    A local towboat company salvaged the 21-foot boat. 

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