POINT LOOKOUT - The Coast Guard rescued a man Wednesday morning after his boat sank near Point Lookout.

Ted Kalandras, using a marine band radio, notified the Coast Guard at 10:35 a.m. that his 24-foot boat was taking on water. Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes, Md., launched a rescue boatcrew, and Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., diverted a rescue helicopter crew to the scene.

The rescue boatcrew arrived first and removed Kalandras, who was wearing a life jacket, from the water where he was clinging to the hull of his overturned boat. The rescue aircrew then hoisted Kalandras aboard the helicopter and transported him to St. Mary's Hospital.

"Mr. Kalandras did everything right," said Petty Officer 1st Class James Potter, a search and rescue coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore.
"He called in his mayday on a marine band radio and gave us his location. This helped us expedite our rescue efforts. He was also wearing a life jacket when we got to him. With a water temperature at about 41 degrees, every second counts," he said.

The Coast Guard urges all mariners to have a marine band radio onboard their boats to communicate with rescue coordinators in the event of an emergency.

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=blue]([I]good advice to follow; also of note, we had winds gusting to 60 mph in the area yesterday[/I]) [/COLOR][/FONT]