BigBendFishing.Net

Search and rescue crews are trying to find a missing boater after a partially submerged cabin cruiser was found Sunday nearly 5 miles off the coast of Alligator Point.

Three people were on board the 49-foot vessel, called "Old School," on Sunday when it ran into unknown difficulties. Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who discovered the boat, contacted the U.S. Coast Guard around 6 p.m. for help.

They found two of the three boaters, though it wasn't clear whether they were on board or in the water at the time. One was found unresponsive and the other was taken to a local hospital. It was not immediately clear where the unresponsive crew member was taken.

"We don't know the cause as to why the vessel was submerged," said Petty Officer Lexie Preston, a Coast Guard spokeswoman. "Currently our primary focus is search and rescue."

The Coast Guard deployed helicopters from New Orleans and Clearwater, along with two search boats from Panama City, to look for the missing boater.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Coast Guard at (251) 441-5976.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. (WCTV) -- The U.S. Coast Guard confirms one of three people on board a boat that sank off Alligator Point has died. The Coast Guard located the victim early Monday after searching overnight. They were found unresponsive in the water.A second person found at the same time was alive and taken to the hospital. A third crew member is still missing and the Coast Guard continues its search, along with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. FWC first discovered the partially submerged 49-foot vessel Sunday evening, about 4 nautical miles south of Alligator Point. A Coast Guard spokesperson says the boat last made contact with authorities off the Atlantic Coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral.The privately owned boat was going from Cape Canaveral to New Orleans via the intra-coastal waterway, according to the Coast Guard. The owner was one of the three people on board. The Coast Guard is using two helicopters and two boat crews during the search.

I know the boat, I am the broker who sold it. If reports of them departing Crystal River at 10AM Saturday are correct, it would appear they were headed straight into Nestor, which made landfall later in the day at 5PM. Hopefully the fellow in the hospital will survive and be able to tell about it. The seller was in contact with the new owner regularly until around Wednesday, then law enforcement contacted him Sunday evening and he in turn called me looking for additional information. It has hit us all pretty hard, the guy was really nice and very resourceful.

The boat was powered by a pair of Man D2866's, 600hp, turning Arnessen #12 surface drives. The original purchaser was the father of the immediate prior owner (my seller), thus in the family since new. Pop replaced the original quadruple big block's with this power train package some years back. The boat was straight out of Miami Vice, only thing missing was Don Johnson at the helm.