Coastal Riverine Squadron (CRS) 3 Sailors assisted in the recovery of a young girl aboard a small sailing vessel that drifted away from the beach at Rudee Inlet Aug. 8.
The CRS 3 Sailors were in Rudee Inlet for a routine safety brief when a small sailing vessel beached on the shore was blown away from the beach.
The boat’s owner, Mike Higgins, was seen running toward the beach as the small boat drifted away from the shore with only his young granddaughter on board.
“After noticing the young girl was underway and hearing her call out for her grandfather, I could see she couldn’t control or navigate the small craft and asked him if he needed assistance,” said Senior Chief Operations Specialist Dion Dupree, CRS 3 Delta Company 1st Platoon leading chief petty officer.
The Sailors quickly began preparations to get underway to recover the young girl. Higgins agreed to the recovery attempt as there were no oars on board his vessel, and he felt he could not swim the distance.
“He asked if we could please help her, at which time I passed the word to get a crew underway and render aid to the young girl,” said Dupree.
Five CRS 3 Sailors aboard a 34-foot Sea Ark boat took on the impromptu rescue mission to return the girl to her grandfather.
“Our guys quickly and safely got underway and made the recovery in textbook fashion,” said Lt. Jorge E. Roldan, 1st Platoon commander, CRS 3 Delta Company. “We escorted the craft back to the pier and reunited the girl with her grandfather.”
With the family reunited and the sailing vessel secured, the CRS 3 Sailors discussed the execution of the recovery and returned to their scheduled safety brief.
“The evolution was smooth, and I feel it’s a testament to the hard work from the platoon and the solid training we’ve received from the Training and Evaluation Unit over the course of the training cycle,” said Roldan.
Coastal Riverine Force is part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, and conducts port and harbor security, high value asset protection, offensive combat operations and maritime security operations in rivers, harbors and coastal waterways. [mappress] Press Release, August 21, 2013; Image: US Navy