Coast Guard encounters unmanned vessel in Dry Spruce Bay

On Sunday, January 23, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Fir was in transit from Kodiak through Dry Spruce Bay – near the northern end of Kodiak Island – when it encountered an unmanned vessel at 6:22 p.m.

The F/V Guardian is a 32-foot fishing vessel based out of Homer. It was adrift at sea, engine off, lights off, floating in the dark a few hundred feet from the shoreline.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Riley Cassidy, was the command duty officer for the sector Anchorage command center on that Sunday.

“There were no signs of distress or persons on board at the time. So they decided to launch a small boat crew and establish a tow with the vessel and then bring it alongside the Coast Guard Cutter for buoy deck to inspect for any further damages,” Cassidy said. “Coast Guard Cutter Fir reported that the lines on the vessel seem to have parted, so we think it could have possibly broken moorage.”

A good Samaritan identified the owner of the F/V Guardian after the Coast Guard cutter put out calls on its radio. The Coast Guard hasn’t provided details on the circumstances of the boat’s moorage mishap. Officials did confirm that a friend of the owner rendezvoused with the cutter in Dry Spruce Bay and took charge of the F/V Guardian.

The owner has since been reunited with their boat, which is no worse for wear save for a severed mooring line.