Norwegian Gem Rescues Five from Sailboat Sanctuary

In this US Coast Guard provided video, the cruise ship Norwegian Gem diverted from it course on October 29 (2011) to rescue five people from the 39-foot sailboat Sanctuary which had lost power and its life raft, and was taking on water. Once on the scene, Norwegian Gem found what they termed "very challenging conditions" with 40-knot winds and large swells, which can be seen in the video with the rescue boat the cruise ship dispatched to the sailboat. The conditions even made it difficult for Norwegian Gem to lower the rescue boat into the water. The rescue took place 350 miles from New York and 256 miles northeast of Bermuda as Norwegian Gem was traveling from Bermuda to New York. Sanctuary was located about two hours away from Norwegian Gem's position when the distress call was received. The video was shot from a US Coast Guard Hercules C-130 aircraft which was dispatched from USCG Air Station Elizabeth City to assist and coordinate the rescue. http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com