Florida deputy rescues three stranded boaters off coast of Tampa

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Three people are lucky to be alive after a Florida sheriff’s deputy pulled them from their boat as it was taking on water under choppy conditions on Sunday.

In bodycam footage shared by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office marine unit, a deputy helps two men and a boy off their disabled vessel, which was slowly filling with water.

The child, wearing a life-jacket, was the first to be lifted out of the boat followed by two shirtless men.

‘Conditions made towing unsafe’

The sheriff’s office said the incident happened at about 6:30 p.m., just before sunset, near Fantasy Island, a small manmade island in Hillsborough Bay near downtown Tampa.

“With conditions making a tow unsafe, deputies secured the vessel and brought all three occupants aboard the SAFE boat,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

It said the trio was showing “signs of near hypothermia, but were able to warm up inside the cabin.”

They were taken to the Davis Island Boat Ramp in Tampa.

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More about the SAFE boat

The sheriff’s office said the incident was a good reminder for boaters to “always check weather and water conditions before heading out and make safety your top priority.”

Three years ago, the sheriff’s office introduced SAFE boats to its marine unit, which it said would enable deputies to better respond to emergencies in the water and along the shoreline.

The high-speed, custom-built boat features an aluminum hull with a climate-controlled cabin and a wrap-around foam flotation collar with hand-hold lines accessible to people in the water.

When the boats were unveiled in January 2023, Sheriff Chad Chronister called them a “game-changing life saver,” allowing deputies to safely respond to emergencies faster.

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