Five people were rescued Friday during Tropical Storm Ophelia after their catamaran was stranded in rough waters in Lookout Bight in Cape Lookout.
The owner of sailing vessel Wanderful Life used a cell phone to call Coast Guard Sector North Carolina and report his concern with local weather while being anchored within Lookout Bight. The owner did not feel comfortable in the channel and asked to be rescued by the Coast Guard.
All passengers aboard were wearing lifejackets and three of them were children, ages 10, 7, and 4.
A Life Boat crew from Fort Macon made it through the narrow channel using parachute flares to light their way and transferred all five people onto their boat.
A Coast Guard helicopter from Elizabeth City provided an overhead light for the trip back to the station.
Officials say there were 6-foot to 8-foot seas at the time, with occasional 10-foot swells, and winds were 35 to 40 mph.
Nobody was hurt
