According to the Saturday news, the US Coast Guard sent a 25 foot response boat out to the Clelia II, which was anchored offshore, to bring in a passenger who had suffered a heart attack.
The Clelia II has entered the Rochester harbor before, and the approach and channel were dredged last year (2009), so why didn't they just sail in and deliver the passenger dockside?
Since the Clelia II apparently has no helicopter landing pad, could it be that the short notice nonavailability of a qualified harbor pilot or red tape trumped what would seem to be greater risks involved in an open water transfer, or might the 25 footer actually have been able to make the final approach/docking significantly faster?