Our family has so much and so many to be thankful for this year. On Saturday November 30th at approximately 1pm, 3 of our family members (Wade Brewer, Debbie Wheaton, and Keith Newton) were out fishing as they traditionally always do after Thanksgiving. They had been out for approximately 4 hours and anchored 12 miles offshore. While fishing they noticed water on the floor of the boat and rising quickly. All the bilge pumps were working but could not keep up with the rising water. The boat owner Wade Brewer knew it was going bad quickly, so his fast action to get on the radio and call out “Mayday, Mayday”, with the name of the boat, the coordinates to his location, and that they were sinking was paramount to their rescue. Our boat launcher Rosario Villa, who is the radio operator for the Cholla Bay Sportsmen’s Club, assistant to the Port Captain, and manages the Cholla Bay Boat launch, heard the Mayday and responded immediately that he heard them. He attempted to call the boat repeatedly for 2 minutes and realized they were in imminent danger. He immediately called the Port Captain, who then contacted the Navy to initiate a rescue. Villa, as always, required a launch slip to be filled out with the names and ages of all souls on board. The coordinates were also on the launch slip, so Villa was able forward all of the information to the Navy, so they knew exactly where to find them. They were in the water for an hour when the Navy found them cold and exhausted clinging to an Igloo ice chest. They were taken back to the marina to be medically evaluated and found to be healthy with no medical needs.
We are so thankful and need to recognize all of the following that were instrumental in saving the lives of our family.
The Cholla Bay Sportsmen’s Club for installing the repeater in Cholla Bay for over 20 years – so no matter how far out to sea we will have communications with Villa for just such an emergency. Cell phones will only work out to 5 miles. Rosario Villa, for his recognition of the eminent emergency and acting swiftly to get the right information to the Port Captain and Navy to make this rescue effort successful. Puerto Peñasco Port Captain Adonay Sandoval Medina and Officer in Charge of the Federal Maritime Security Marcelo Gerardo Mendoza Ramos, for their immediate response to the needs of the situation and coordinating with the Nave to rescue them. The Navy for their quick response to rescue them from the 65-degree water before they became hypothermic. Then providing continued care, and ongoing medical evaluation all the way to the marina. The Seamless communications and actions of all above were nothing short of a miracle and we are so thankful to all of them and the greatest outcome we could of imagined. We are so thankful for all our pray warriors and to the Lord for this miracle as well.
