Missing sailor is found alive aboard tattered vessel nearly 300 miles off the coast of NC two weeks after setting sail from NJ to Bermuda
- The stranded mariner, whose name was not released, had left his Jersey City, New Jersey home to set sail for Bermuda
- The sailor was overdue on Tuesday which prompted the U.S. Coast to issue and urgent marine information broadcast
- On Wednesday, the sailing vessel named the Time Bandit located the missing man and his battered sailboat
A sailor from New Jersey who set out to sea on a solo adventure but went missing for more than a week was miraculously found by the U.S. Coast Guard, nearly 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
The stranded mariner, whose name was not released, had left his Jersey City home en route to Bermuda on his sailboat named the Windward Passage for the ambitious voyage. The trip would typically take four to five days, but the sailor lost touch with his family on November 6.
On Tuesday, when the sailor was overdue – and did not arrive to his destination – it prompted the Coast Guard Atlantic Area to broadcast an urgent marine message, along with a description of the missing boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard press release.
A day later, the sailing vessel named the Time Bandit spotted what looked like the missing craft – a boat sitting idle in the ocean waters with battered sails and a missing boom- approximately 270 miles from Hatteras, North Carolina.
When members of the Coast Guard made contact with the boat they found the missing sailor onboard. On Thursday, the lucky sailor was reunited with his family at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey.
The sailor, whose name was not released, had left his Jersey City home to set sail for Bermuda but lost touch with his family on November 6. The sails (pictured) from his boat were tattered when he was found
The boat named the Windward Passage was adrift 270 nautical miles from Hatteras North Carolina, when the craft was spotted by a good Samaritan aboard the shipping vessel, the Time Bandit on Wednesday
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson moors to the pier after rescuing an overdue mariner on Wednesday. The missing sailor was reunited with his family on Thursday at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey
A good Samaritan who was aboard the Time Bandit heard the alert and saw the vessel miles away in the distance. Officials said the boat matched the description of the overdue mariner’s craft.
The good Samaritan made contact with man, but due to the conditions, the U.S. Coast Guard advised against an at-sea transfer.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson, based in Cape May, New Jersey, arrived on scene Wednesday and safely transferred the stranded boater aboard their ship.
The mariner was transported in stable condition and reunited with family Thursday at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
Commander Wes Geyer, the search and rescue mission coordinator, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, described the search area as ‘nearly twice the size of Texas’ and the seas as ‘very unforgiving.’
‘We are pleased that this case resulted in a family reunion,’ Geyer said.
It remains unclear what caused the sails on the mariner’s boat to become tattered.
Speaking on the unpredictable conditions of the sea, Geyer urged all mariners, who venture offshore to carry a properly registered Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.
‘This device can help pinpoint your exact location should the unthinkable ever happen,’ he added.
Additional assets the Coast Guard deployed to assist in the search and rescue case included an HC-130 Hercules crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C; an MH-60 helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, and an HC-144 crew from Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.
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