JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Five boaters are safe after their boat ran aground Friday morning. The U.S Coast Guard says the group's boat drifted aground in Nassau Sound, about one mile east of the Heckscher Drive Bridge early Friday.
They say the captain of the 115-foot fishing vessel, Amazing Grace, notified the Coast Guard at 6:47 a.m., that while the crew was asleep the vessel had drifted aground and began taking on water.
Crews say the area was too shallow for an boat to come alongside the Amazing Grace so the Coast Guard passed a de-watering pump to the crew of the Amazing Grace. The crew then began to try to pump out the flooding waters. Soon, the pumps could not keep up with the flooding and the five boaters abandoned the vessel, donned their life jackets and with the help of Nassau County Sherriff's Office, were transferred aboard the Coast Guard's vessel.
The boaters were transported to Station Mayport with no injuries reported.
"Nassau Sound is a notoriously shallow area, and we respond to grounded vessels there often," said Petty Officer Stephan McCllellan, the coxswain of the RB-M. "All boaters should have navigational awareness before taking their vessel out and refer to nautical charts for water depths and known hazards."
The names of the boaters are not being released.
There are no reports of pollution and the vessel's owner is working with a commercial salvage company to recover the vessel.
