The Coast Guard rescued two people aboard a pleasure craft disabled in Bodkin Creek near Pasadena, Saturday, Sept. 12.

Rescued was Wiley Mills, 64, and his pastor.

The Coast Guard received a call at 2:40 p.m., via cell phone from Mills, the owner and operator of a 18-foot boat. Mills reported that he was a diabetic and that he was lost, disabled and adrift.

The Coast Guard worked with the cellular phone service provider to obtain Mills' approximate location.

A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, Md., launched and began searching the area between the vessel's departure point and the area given by the cell phone company.  A Good Samaritan found Mills and provided the correct position of the adrift vessel.

After arriving on scene at 3:35 p.m., the crew assisted Mills by towing the vessel to the Bodkin Creek Marina in Pasadena. Both Mills and his pastor did not have any medical concerns.

“The vessel did not have a VHF radio onboard,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy A. Jacobs, the officer of the day at Station Curtis Bay. "We had a cell phone connection but having a VHF radio bearing would have given us an immediate location. Cell phones have limited battery life, you don't have to worry about VHF radios as long as your boat's battery is working.”

The Coast Guard urges mariners to outfit their boat with a functioning marine-band radio. Using channel 16 on a marine-band radio is the most reliable way to communicate a distress to search and rescue personnel in the event of an emergency while on the water.