Two children and three men are safe after they were rescued from their capsized vessel off Kaena Point on Saturday morning.

The Coast Guard Sector received a Mayday call at 6:41 a.m. after the 17-foot boat capsized and dispatched a 45-foot response boat  from Station Honolulu and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Barbers Point to the scene.

The helicopter crew found the two children in life jackets and the three men, not in life jackets, clinging to the overturned vessel.  The crew lowered a rescue swimmer  to the water and brought one man and the two children to the helicopter.  A nearby vessel rescued the two other men. 

The Coast Guard helicopter brought the mariners to Dillingham Airfield where paramedics treated them, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

“This rescue is a perfect example of why boaters must be sure they have good safety equipment and reliable communications before heading out on the water” said Lt. Kevin Cooper, Sector Honolulu public affairs officer, in the news release.  “Because this boat had a working VHF radio and properly sized life jackets for the children, we were able to determine the boat’s location and rescuers were able to save five lives in distress.”