The Ruby Dawn under tow behind the USCG Cutter Chandeleur, en route to Yakutat. (USCG photo)
The crew of the fishing vessel Ruby Dawn is safe in Yakutat, after getting a tow from the Coast Guard.
The 36-foot boat was en route Tuesday (9-12-17) from Whittier to Juneau when it became disabled southwest of Icy Bay, in an area of the Gulf where VHF radio is unreliable.
According to a news release, the two people on board used an inReach device to communicate with a friend in Anchorage, who then called the Coast Guard.
InReach is a commercial product that allows people traveling in areas without cellular telephone service to transmit their location and short text messages via a global satellite network.
The cutter Chandeleur responded from Valdez, with some spare parts for the Ruby Dawn provided by the Yakutat Harbormaster.
Although the crew of the Ruby Dawn was able to make temporary repairs, the Chandeleur took the boat under tow for the trip to Yakutat.
