Captain, crew hailed as heroes after helping boaters at sea

KEY LARGO, Fla. – The captain of a boat and his crew are being hailed as heroes after helping a group of boaters at sea.

A baby, three small children and two women were rescued from a pontoon boat.

"We saw this one lady had a little baby. I didn't see a single life jacket," Capt. Chan Warner said.

Warner was out on the water when a fishing trip suddenly turned into a rescue mission.

"It wasn't life or death, but it could have been," Warner said.

He and fellow fisherman were about to call it a day when they discovered a pontoon boat packed with passengers in dire need of help.

"So I thought we got to do something very quick," said Warner.

Warner's instincts immediately kicked in and his fishing crew transitioned into rescue mode.

"I got down on my knees, grabbed the baby first and then we brought all of them on board. It was raining, the waves were getting rough and more weather was heading their way," Warner said. "They go out, that part scared me, especially for the children, but it turned out well. Lucky that we were there. There was no visibility, maybe raining and the lightning and thunder were right on top of one another."

Despite the danger, Warner and his crew managed to safely rescue all of the women and children from the other boat.

The captain didn't stop there, though, guiding the remaining men on the pontoon back to shore, riding like this for about an hour and a half.

"It all turned out well. That's the main thing," Warner said.

Warner said unfortunately he sees boaters unprepared on the water way too often.

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