Sailor Found After Two-Month Silence

An 86-year-old man and his dog were pulled from the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday after drifting for more than two months.

The sailor lost contact with land on Aug. 20 while traveling from Astoria, Oregon, to Pago Pago in American Samoa. Officials did not launch a formal search until Oct. 24, when he was reported overdue.

Three days after the alert, an emergency beacon from his boat, the Willow Wind, triggered a Coast Guard response. The service sent a C-27 Spartan and an HC-130 Hercules from Air Station Sacramento. They also dispatched the Cutter Robert Ward (WPC 1130) and asked nearby commercial ships to help.

A Coast Guard aircraft located the Willow Wind on the evening of Oct. 27. The vessel was sitting about 460 miles off the coast of San Diego. The merchant vessel Grand Orion arrived early the next morning but could not perform the rescue immediately due to rough seas.

The Grand Orion crew successfully brought the man and his dog aboard later that day. The sailboat had damaged sails and was left to drift. On the morning of Oct. 29, a Coast Guard helicopter transferred the pair from the Grand Orion. The pickup occurred about 170 miles west of Ventura, California.

The man was flown to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego for evaluation. The Coast Guard did not release specific details about his physical condition. Cmdr. Jason Nguyen of the Coast Guard thanked the merchant mariners and air crews for the coordinated effort.

Nguyen stated that the incident demonstrates the need for emergency communication equipment and float plans. He noted that having a written voyage plan allows people ashore to know where a sailor is headed.