Times staff
Monday, April 23, 2012
HERNANDO BEACH — After a miscommunication, a brief search for three boaters presumed missing ended Monday morning after they were determined to be safe and not in distress.
One of the men's mothers had called the Coast Guard on Sunday at about 10 p.m. The agency was told they were supposed to return about 5 p.m.
But the men weren't missing and had not planned to return until Monday aboard their 25-foot sailing vessel, which was anchored in the Gulf of Mexico off the Hernando County coast.
"They did not need assistance," said Gary Morse of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Everything was fine."
Both the Coast Guard and commission launched brief searches Sunday night, and the Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter twice Monday morning. Authorities reached the men by phone about 7 a.m. and learned that they weren't in any danger.
Authorities did not release their names.