Capsized shrimpers are swept seven miles away from their boat - without life jackets

Almost 18 hours after their shrimping boat capsized, two men were found clinging to debris seven miles away from their boat.

Will Grant and Captain Kenny Rustick were found in the Pamlico Sound, and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, WCTI reports.

An initial report shows the boat’s generator blew out before the two men were caught in a storm, WCTI reported.

“I was still in the cabin, it flooded with water,” Rustick told WITN. “I was able to get a window open, the side window on the port side, and went out that.”

Rustick, who has been shrimping for 33 years, told WITN that things happened too quickly for them to grab life jackets or flare guns.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to help the two men. It had collected $2,385 of a $3,000 goal as of Wednesday evening.

The Outer Banks Voice says the two men are not seriously injured, and are at the Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City.

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 6:52 PM.