The Coast Guard rescued a sinking sailboat holding a family of six on Sunday morning after the sailboat struck a tree and began to hold water near Freeport.
The Coast Guard Station Freeport crews rushed to help the sinking ship at around 1 a.m. Sunday, after the family called the crew and told them they were taking on water, officials said.
The family said their 40-foot sailboat Providence hit a “large submerged tree, which caused the engine boot seal to fail.” From there, the flooding began, the Coast Guard said.
The crews towed the sailboat back to a marina in Freeport and are helping dewater the boat until a TowBoat can help pull the sailboat out of the water, officials said.
The incident happened about four miles northeast of the Freeport jetties. The boat had departed from Galveston, where it is usually kept.
The family of six hails from Norman, Oklahoma. The mother and father have three daughters and a 17-year-old son, the only minor.
