USCG Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a call around 3:15pm from someone in the water. The caller said their 36-foot catamaran had capsized and the three onboard were unable to put on their life jackets.
The USCG launched a 25-foot response boat and crew from Station Galveston and a MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station Houston to assist.
The boat crew was able to reach two of the people in the water, officials said.
According to authorities, the catamaran's rigging in the water prevented the small boat crew from reaching the third person – a senior citizen.
The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer to help the elder man to the rescue boat.
All three people in the water were rescued without injury.
"This was an instance that our training came into play," Petty Officer 3rd Class Josh Magie, an aviation survival technician at Air Station Houston, said in a release Saturday. "All of us working together made this rescue run smoothly and without unnecessary risks."
