LINDON, Utah — A family of boaters on Utah Lake were rescued Saturday after their boat began sinking.
The boat took off from Lindon Marina, and it sprung a leak near the inboard/outboard engine while it was between the marina and Saratoga Springs. It was leaking enough that they were unable to bail out the water by bucket fast enough to keep up.
Around 11 a.m., someone on the boat called a family member on the shore, who then called 911. Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff's Office said that while this was not a major mistake, it would have been easier for the rescue team to find them if they had just called 911 directly from the boat.
The sheriff's office search and rescue team responded, along with Lindon Police, State Parks staff and the Utah Department of Public Safety's helicopter.
During the search, a bystander asked police at the scene if he could fly his drone. They said he could, and asked if he could use it to help them in the search effort. The drone operator eventually spotted the family of seven people in the water about a mile and a half from the shore, and he was able to provide the team with GPS coordinates. They were about 1.15 miles from American Fork Boat Harbor and about 2.5 miles from Lindon Marina.
Two civilian boats spotted the family, who were all in the water with life jackets. There were three adults, two teenagers and two toddlers. Cannon said they were not in distress thanks to wearing life jackets, as well as the warm water temperature.
One boat took two people on board and towed the sinking boat to Lindon Marina, while the other took the remaining members.
Cannon added that the drone operator ended up sacrificing his drone because he overrode its automatic feature that would have it return to him once the battery was low. He kept it out longer, and it ended up falling into the water after spotting the family. He said the drone helped them save probably an hour in the search. And although the water was relatively warm, that extra hour could have made hypothermia a concern.
