As Hurricane Milton struck Florida, a fishing boat captain was stranded for 8 hours in the Gulf of Mexico. The captain faced extreme conditions in the sea before finally being rescued by the US Coast Guard.
The captain, whose name was not released, went out early at around 3 am on Wednesday to repair his broken boat ‘Captain Dave,’ as reported by the Washington Post.
Around noon, the boat’s owner reported to the Coast Guard that the captain hadn’t checked in. “Watchstanders were able to make radio contact with the captain who reported the rudder was fouled with a line and became disabled during his transit back to port,” the US Coast Guard agency said in the release.
The fishing vessel earlier in the week had broken down some 20 miles off John’s Pass in Pinellas County, and the captain and another crew member were rescued from it on Monday, but the vessel was left with salvage arrangements to be made.
At that time, the Coast Guard reported winds of around 30 mph and waves reaching 6-8 feet. As conditions worsened with Hurricane Milton approaching, Coast Guard officials instructed the captain to wear a life jacket and keep the boat’s emergency beacon close to ensure he could be located.
However, by 6:45 pm, roughly two hours before Milton made landfall 20 miles south of John’s Pass, the Coast Guard lost contact with him. The Coast Guard launched a tedious search and rescue operation at around 5:30 am on Thursday, deploying airplane and helicopter crews.
After a harrowing night of survival, the captain was found clinging to a cooler 30 miles off Longboat Key, around 1:30 pm on Thursday, more than 8 hours later after contact was lost.
“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, the Coast Guard’s command center chief in St. Petersburg, Fla., said in a news release.
The unnamed captain survived the extreme conditions in an incredibly dangerous situation. “He experienced the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot waves, for an extended period of time to include overnight,” Grady said in the release.
“He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler,” Grady said.
