Rockland Coast Guard crews assist at three boating incidents Saturday

ROCKLAND – U.S. Coast Guard crews were kept busy Saturday with the grounding of a powerboat and a sailing vessel, as well as monitoring a disabled small boat in the Penobscot River.

No one was injured at 1:50 p.m. when the 38-foot powerboat Mandalay ran aground between Spruce Head and Rackliff Island with two people and a dog on board, according to Petty Officer Josh Lemoi of Coast Guard Station Rockland.

The boat, operated by John Bryant, 53, of Camden, hit a ledge, Lemoi said, and a local fisherman pulled the vessel off the outcrop.

The Coast Guard launched its 47-foot patrol boat but learned the Mandalay was en route to Rockland under its own power. The Coast Guard was escorting the vessel to the mainland when the operator reported the boat was taking on water.

A Coast Guard crewman boarded the Mandalay with dewatering equipment, and the rescue boat towed the powerboat to Journey’s End Marina, where it will be hauled out Tuesday to be inspected for damage, Lemoi said.

Bryant’s wife, Victoria Bryant, 49, and their dog were also on board when the boat grounded, Lemoi said.

Later that afternoon, the 41-foot sailing vessel Aurora, operated by Andrew Kallfelz, age unknown, of Jamestown, R.I., hit a rock in Fox Island Thoroughfare near Vinalhaven. There were six people on board.

The Coast Guard was called at 5:15 p.m. by a second captain of the vessel, who was on the mainland. After the caller got a message that the Aurora was taking on water, he lost contact with the boat, Lemoi said.

The Coast Guard’s 25-foot rescue boat got under way, but before the crew arrived on scene, the captain on board the Aurora said he did not need assistance. The rescue crew kept communications with the vessel every 15 minutes until it was hauled out of the water at Wayfarer Marine in Camden, Lemoi said.