The Coast Guard, Navy, and the fishing vessel Capt. Kenneth rescued the sailing vessel Honey Cutter 402 miles northeast of Oahu Wednesday night. 

The Honey Cutter sent out a distress signal at 11:43 a.m. Wednesday after the vessel’s keel fractured and the boat began taking on water at a rate of about 2 gallons an hour. 

A Navy P-3 Orion crew based on Oahu arrived on scene at 5 p.m. and established contact with the Honey Cutter crew who indicated they were prepared to abandon ship, but planned to stay with the vessel as long as possible while awaiting the arrival of the Capt. Kenneth. 

The Capt. Kenneth took the Honey Cutter in tow shortly after 11 p.m. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island is en route to rendezvous with the Capt. Kenneth to assume the tow Thursday afternoon. 

The Honey Cutter was involved in another Coast Guard case Aug. 30 when family members reported the crew overdue on a voyage from Oahu to Maui.  

A search ensued and the crew reported in safe once they came back into cell phone service range.  

They had been delayed by weather and did not hear Coast Guard call outs over VHF-FM radio because they were not tuned to Channel 16, the international hailing and distress frequency.