The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a search and rescue mission and safely recovered two local men on Monday, Aug. 12.

According to a release posted on Facebook last week, on Aug. 12 at 11:57 a.m., the Coast Guard received a distress call from the Garmin Command Center indicating a distress signal 62 miles off the Kodiak coast. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a C-130J Hercules aircraft from the USCG Air Station Kodiak were diverted from their training to begin the search and rescue mission immediately following the call.

The Coast Guard arrived on scene at 1 p.m. and found Richard Gregoire of Homer and Darrell Card of Sterling stranded aboard their skiff after their boat had sunk.

The Jayhawk crew began their hoisting operation at 1:22 p.m., and both men were “safely onboard without injury” 15 minutes later, the release says. Gregoire and Card were then transported back to Kodiak.

Richard Gregoire of Homer and Darrell Card of Sterling were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak after being stranded in their skiff after their boat sank on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, 62 miles off the coast of Kodiak, Alaska. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard