Coast Guard rescues 3 off Cape May

[jackdaniels]

CAPE MAY - Three people aboard a 32-foot boat were rescued Sunday by the Coast Guard after their vessel capsized in waters off Cape May.

A crew member aboard the Lady Jane - which was two miles south of Cape May, near Cape May Point - called the Coast Guard just after 9 a.m. and reported the boat was taking on water at a fast rate.

A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape May soon arrived on scene and discovered the Lady Jane had capsized. The boat's three crew members, who were sitting on its partially submerged hull, were taken aboard the rescue boat and brought back to the Coast Guard station.

No injuries were reported, authorities said.

[jackdaniels]

Press of Atlantic City
CAPE MAY - Three people were rescued Sunday morning when their 22-foot fishing boat, the Lady Jane, capsized two miles south of Cape May Point.

A crew member from the Lady Jane radioed both the Coast Guard and Sea Tow in Sea Isle City shortly after 9 a.m. to report that the boat was taking on water at a fast rate, according to the Coast Guard. Boats from the Cape May station and from Sea Tow arrived on the scene to find that the Lady Jane capsized and all three crewmembers were sitting on the partially submerged hull.

The three crewmembers were transported to the Cape May station, where they refused medical attention, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard did not release their names, but the Lady Jane's owner, John DiGiorgio, was among them, according to Phil Risko, owner of Sea Tow, which salvaged the Lady Jane and towed it to Wildwood. Risko did not know DiGiorgio's age or hometown but said he was from southern New Jersey.

The Lady Jane capsized in an area known as the Cape May Rips, a spot notorious for good fishing and rough seas, Risko said.

"It's a hot spot for striped bass," Risko said. "Almost all of our calls this time of year come from that area."

Risko said he did not know if rough seas and Sunday's poor weather conditions contributed to the Lady Jane's sinking, but he did say that the conditions made the salvage operation difficult.