208 Haitian Migrants Rescued U. S. Coast Guard December 29, 2004 MIAMI - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous repatriated 208 Haitian migrants to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, today after they were rescued from their overcrowded sail freigther Sunday. Early that morning, a Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter forward deployed to the Bahamas from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., spotted a grossly overloaded 30-foot sailboat in the Windward Passage. The Vigorous, which was patrolling the passage, was diverted to investigate the vessel. While Vigorous steamed to the scene, a second helicopter, this time an HH-65 Dolphin from Air Station Miami, relieved the first helicopter to keep an eye on the boat and its passengers safety. The cutter arrived just after noon and immediately dispatched two rescue boats. Approximately 100 people could be seen on deck and the vessel was observed lolling: making long, slow rolls indicating a stability-critical situation where capsizing was possible Realizing the danger of the situation the crew of Vigorous, with rescue helicopters keeping watch overhead, spent the next five hours distributing life jackets and carefully removing the 208 migrants from the boat to the safety of the cutter. In all, 159 men, 47 women and two children were rescued, all hungry and thirsty and some seasick, but in otherwise good condition. While on Vigorous they were provided with food, water and any necessary medical attention. This was the Cape May, NJ., cutter's second rescue case in as many days. On Christmas eve the Coast Guard received a distress call from the yacht Lady Frances IV with five people on board. Vigorous' crew was alerted and sent to the rescue, locating the disabled and adrift vessel just before midnight. A rescue and assistance team was sent over to assess the situation. Meanwhile, the cutter's corpsman was sent on board to treat one of the passengers who was severly ill. Unable to fix the stricken ship's engines or generators in the rough seas, Vigorous took the vessel under tow and proceeded toward safe haven at Matthewtown, Bahamas. While under tow, the rescue and assistance team was able to both help repair the systems engines and generators and stabilize the severly sea sick passenger. The repaired vessel was released and continued on its voyage to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

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