Coasties discuss recent rescue at Pikelot Atoll

On March 31, three mariners from Polowat Atoll in Chuuk went fishing toward Pikelot when their boat ran into the reef.

The men were stranded for the next nine days on the uninhabited island.

Culinary Specialist 1st Class Joshua Pablo and Lt. Ray Cerrato was on the Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry when they responded. 

Pablo said, “Looking at the beach, they already had a nice shelter going on. So for eight days they were good at maintaining their lifestyle. They weren’t panicking in any way but my main concern was if they were going to be malnourished or dehydrated. From talking to them after getting off the boat they seemed all fine. They were just excited to get off the island.”

Two military aircrafts spotted the men’s signal in the sand.

Pablo was the EMT and Lt. Cerrato is the Commanding Officer on the Oliver Henry.

Cerrato said responders battled swells to get to shore and one by one, the men were safely taken off the island. 

KUAM asked, “What’s going through your mind knowing you were part of that effort?”

Cerrator responded, “[It was] Really cool! We are just a cog in the machine. It feels good to be at the pointed end of the spear for that part. It's a huge team effort collectively and if it wasn’t for the aircraft discovering them and the Command Center at Sector Guam pointing us in the right direction it couldn’t have been possible. So it’s really rewarding to pick those guys up. They were in a great mood and we had them on board same day trip back to Polowat and we got them showered up, food and water and dropped them off that afternoon as if it were a regular fishing trip they were going on.” 

Pablo is a local boy from Guam and he shared that he's grateful to help out. 

“I’m actually really honored – being from Guam myself. So helping out neighboring islands as well just doing their everyday life, hobbies, fishing and going in the water. So being able to help someone in their time of need is kind of why I joined the Coast Guard and it makes me feel like I made the right choice,” said Pablo. 

Two days after the rescue, the team was called on again to medevac a little boy in Satawal, the child suffered a head injury after falling out of a tree and needed a higher level of medical care in Yap.