Coast guard rescue “overdue” boater near Barnegat Bay

(WPHL) — The Coast Guard rescued an “overdue” man on Thursday near Barnegat Bay, the agency said.

72-year-old John Mazzy was rescued near the Oyster Creek Channel.

According to the Coast Guard, the Delware Bay command center watchstanders received a call form Mazzy’s daughter at 10 p.m.

She reported that her father did not return from a clamming trip near Baker’s Basin and Oyster Creek Channel.

The Coast Guard deployed an Air Station Atlantic City helicopter crew and a Station Barnegat Light boatcrew to conduct searches.

At 2:08 a.m., the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew located a 17-foot white Carolina skiff matching Mazzy’s vessel description and directed the Station Barnegat Light and commercial salvage boatcrews to the vesse.

No one was on board the boat, but the helicopter crew was able to find Mazzy clinging to a nearby dayboard.

Mazzy had hypothermia-like symptoms and immediatly tranported him to the Key Harbor Marina for further medical care.

“Mr. Mazzy filed a float plan with his daughter which greatly assisted rescue crews locating him quickly,” said Rick Anderson, an operations unit controller with Sector Delaware Bay. “Mr. Mazzy’s float plan was a verbal plan where he told his daughter where he was leaving from, how long he was going to be out and the locations he was planning to do conduct his fishing. Float plans can significantly increase mariners’ chances of being found swiftly by rescue crews because the crews have areas to initiate their search efforts.”

Local New Jersey law enforcement crews are investigating the cause of the incident.