A concerned neighbor of an Ellabell family alerted Coast Guard watchstanders about 10:20 p.m. Saturday to report a Bryan County family had not returned from their boating trip before sunset as intended. Four hours latert the family was safe due, in large part to life jackets.
Jerry and Mitchell along with their four-year-old son, Justin, made a trip in their 15-foot boat to Ossabaw Island for a picnic Saturday afternoon. However on their way back the family ran into trouble when their boat struck a sandbar, began taking on water, causing them to abandon ship into the Ossabaw Sound, where they drifted for more than two hours, said Petty Officer First Class Lauren Jorgensen.
“We hit a sandbar, my husband tried to reverse to get off the sandbar and it pulled water into the boat, the high tide and waves started pulling water in, so we abandoned the boat and tried to swim for the buoy,” Jenna Mitchell said.
However the tide and current pushed them away from the buoy and they eventually ended back at the boat.
“I saw a shark fin in the water, I was really scared, but fortunately it went away,” Mitchell said.
After several hours they decided to swim for Ossaba Island.
“When we got to the beach we sat down and prayed and thanked God for keeping us together and safe,” Jenna said. “It felt really good to put the sand between our toes and be on land.”
Crewmembers aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Savannah and a boat crew aboard a 25-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Tybee Island launched to search after the neighbor confirmed the family’s vehicle and trailer were still at Bell’s Landing boat ramp, where they launched earlier in the day, Jorgensen said.
A Savannah-Chatham police helicopter crew spotted the boat anchored and partially submerged at the northern tip of Ossabaw Island at 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Forty minutes later, the Coast Guard air crew located the family of three on the beach on Ossabaw Island about two and a half miles away from the boat, Jorgensen said.
The Coast Guardsmen airlifted the trio and took them to Hunter Army Airfield, where they were reunited with other family members. There were no injuries reported.
“It was horrible, it was the scariest thing I ever went through,” Jenna said recalling the experience.
The family told the air crew that they put their life jackets on and attempted to swim to shore after their boat began taking on water, but they got swept out to sea with the outgoing tide and drifted in Ossabaw Sound and the Atlantic Ocean for about two hours before the tide shifted, pushing them back toward Ossabaw Island, Jorgensen said.
“This rescue is a perfect example of why life jackets and float plans are vitally important tools for mariners to use, and could be the determining factor in survival following an accident,” said Lt. Cmdr. Derek Beatty of the Coast Guard Sector Charleston, S.C., command center in a written statement. “Had the neighbor not known the family’s estimated return time or whereabouts, there’s no telling how long they would have been stranded. It’s also unlikely all three would have survived in the open water for two hours without life jackets. They were well prepared and it paid off ten-fold.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Coffee Bluff Marine Rescue Squadron also assisted with the search.