- November 24, 2024
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Jan. 25, 1979
On Jan. 20, the call of "Mayday" came across the VHF scanner radio, and reporter Cee Wollheim heard the call. The U.S. Coast Guard was responding to the distress signal from a 74-foot shrimp boat, the Jessie A. The skipper and his wife were on board when the boat ran aground and began taking on water.
The captain gave the location of about 400 yards off of Fort Myers. However, a VHF radio signal can only function in a 25-mile range. If the boat was off the coast of Fort Myers, the Coast Guard Cortez in Bradenton would not have picked up the signal.
The captain of Jessie A was listing the boat at about 45 degrees and that his batteries would soon be flooded causing them to lose power.
The call was also heard by Ken Gulow a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 84. He contacted Rolland Fischer who lived on Beach Road. Fischer could see the boat lit up and notified Coast Guard Cortez.
Gulow then contacted Bob Brachle who had a mobile radio. They set it up at the end of Avenida Messina. The mobile unit was able to relay and send messages from the boat that was losing power to the Coast Guard.
Deputy Sheriff Gerhard Pech was on duty and was dispatched to drive to Avenida Messina to turn on his revolving lights near big pass to signal as a reference point for the Coast Guard helicopter that was assisting in the rescue.
At 9:45 p.m. Pech spotted the lights on the boat. Around that time the skipper aboard the Jessie A. saw told the Coast Guard that he could see the blue lights. After 11:15 p.m. the lights on the boat went dark and shortly after two Coast Guard boats arrived on the scene.
The boats were unable to maneuver the sandbar where the Jessie A. ran aground as well as the high seas. At 12:45 a.m. a helicopter rescued the couple from the boat.
After they were rescued the couple was questioned about whether or not there were flares aboard. Coast Guard Cortez advised that had they used flares the location of the boat could have been determined quicker. Residents at Siesta Towers, Whispering Sands and the Terrace could have seen the flares and alerted authorities quicker.
