Boat sinks, but three rescued

A boater and two passengers whose boat sunk off Cape Romano on Sunday were rescued by the Coast Guard and are in good shape, a Coast Guard spokesman said Monday.

Bruce Balurd, 46, reported to the Coast Guard's Fort Myers station that his 44-foot pleasure boat, Bullish Reward, was taking on water.

Balurd and two passengers — Darrell Balurd, 75, and Mark Goebal, 49 — got into a life raft before the boat finally capsized, according to Lt. Christopher Stoeckler, public affairs officer at the Air Station Clearwater.

Hometowns of the three victims was not known Monday, nor was the cause of the boat's sinking, Stoeckler said.

"They just called in and said they were taking on water," Stoeckler said.

The Coast Guard sent out a C-130 plane from Air Station Clearwater. The airborne crew spotted the victims at 6:45 p.m., floating in the life raft approximately 25 nautical miles west of Cape Romano.

Cape Romano is an uninhabited island located a few miles south of Marco Island.

"They were all fine and in good shape," Stoeckler said.

The C-130 crew contacted the nearest fishing boat, the Angelina, which picked up the stranded boaters. The victims then were transferred to a Coast Guard rescue vessel and were taken to the Fort Myers Beach station.