Close enough that they had to be asked to back off after having already ignored Coast Guard requests.
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As the capsule bobbed in the water, a recovery team instructed the boaters to stay away.
The Coast Guard warned boaters to stay clear of the area in a radio broadcast two hours before the splashdown, said the spokesman, Petty Officer Third Class John Michelli.
“With limited assets available and with no formal authority to establish zones that would stop boaters from entering the area,” he said, “numerous boaters ignored the Coast Guard crews’ requests and decided to encroach the area, putting themselves and those involved in the operation in potential danger.”
