Two men saved from a sinking boat
The boat was leaking so badly that the propellers had no chance of keeping up with the leakage.
Two men, a father and a son, were saved this morning from a sinking boat in Breiðafjörður. The boat was leaking and the man got away to a near boat, and no later their boat was on its side halfway in the sea.
In an announcement from the Coast Guard says that they got the Mayday call at 7:20 AM this morning. The boat was leaking and the two pumps in the boat could not keep up with the inflow of water.
Immediately, all boats in the vicinity were called to the scene and a helicopter. Only six minutes later, at 7:26 AM, both men had been rescued and taken to another boat.
The rescue boat Björg from Rif went to the area where the boat was sinking to check if it was possible to drag the boat to shore.
The boat was already on its side when Jónasson came to the rescue.
The boat on its side and the men standing on the bridge
The father and son were fishing this morning when their boat started leaking. The silver lining was that they were in an area where there are a lot of boats fishing, says Guðlaugur Jónasson to mbl.is, but he was on his boat, Hvítá, fishing in Breiðafjörður.
"I had just sailed past them and had just put the fishing gear into the sea, not far from where they were. When I hear the mayday call I yanked in the fishing gear and then the second mayday call comes when their boat was already on its side in the sea and they are standing on the bridge. I make sure that there is no trash in the sea so that nothing gets caught in the propeller. Then I sail upto the boat and they manage to jump over into my boat."
When they got to land, Jónasson says that the two men took a nap because they were exhausted after this difficult morning.
Hvítá, the boat that came to the rescue of the father and son.
