The Coast Guard rescued three boaters were rescued after their 16-foot catamaran capsized.
A worried relative called 911 Sunday evening around 7 p.m., reporting that three men, ages 16, 40, and 53 were past due to return from their sailing trip.
The family member also told officials that the mariners had no lights, electronics, motor or emergency equipment on board the boat.
Coast Guard crews and other authorities searched for the men, and after seven hours of looking for them, the Jayhawk rescue helicopter’s crew spotted the men on the capsized hull around 4:30 a.m. nearly two miles offshore.
"This case could of turned out differently," said Richard Hutchinson, a Coast Guard search and rescue coordinator at Sector St. Petersburg, in a statement."
No one was injured, and the rescued mariners were taken to Air Station Clearwater.
