Schooner Sullivan crew saves 3 fishermen off Florida coast

The crew of Wisconsin's flagship, the schooner Denis Sullivan, rescued three fishermen whose boat had sank in the Atlantic Ocean 11 miles off Islamorada, Fla., Coast Guard officials reported this afternoon.The Sullivan, which sails from the Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin on Milwaukee's Lakefront, was navigating from Miami to Key West with 19 high school students on board when the crew spotted distress flares from the sinking vessel about midnight.Scott Hooper, the Sullivan's First Mate, assisted two of the injured fishermen onto the Sullivan, while the third man worked his way onto the schooner's rescue ladder.All three were taken by Coast Guard craft to receive treatment in Islamorada.The three-masted schooner sustained a one-foot puncture to its hull when it struck the submerged fishing vessel, but remained afloat with the assistance of pumps delivered by Coast Guard boat and helicopter. The ship was making its way to Key West for repairs.

AUDIO: Phone interview with Hugh Covert, the captain of the Denis Sullivan, and Scott Hooper, the first mate

Coast Guard Press Release here.

This is a really nice ship.

Dwayne