The U.S. Coast Guard helped direct the rescue of a Canadian man adrift on a sailboat nearly 500 miles off the coast of Oregon this week.
The 74-year-old man was trying to sail from Hilo, Hawaii to Vancouver, B.C.
It’s a trip he’s made four times before.
But this time, his 29-foot sailboat named “Alice” ran into 30-foot waves and gale-force winds.
The storm disabled his engine and broke the vessel’s mast.
Fortunately, the man had a hand-held satellite communicator with him and he immediately reached out for help.
Coast Guard contacts cruise ship in area
The Coast Guard was able to contact a cruise ship in the area, the “Silver Whisper,” owned and operated by ultra-luxury travel brand Silversea Cruises, a division of the Royal Caribbean Group.
The cruise ship diverted from its intended course and sailed 120 miles to rescue the distressed sailor on the Alice.
They found the foundering sailboat 489 miles off the coast of Tillamook, Oregon, Tuesday.
The first distress call came in a day earlier.
Watchstanders with the U.S. Coast Guard Northwest District on Monday received a relay from the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria, Canada.
Authorities in Victoria explained the Canadian mariner had suffered a shoulder injury when his sailing vessel de-masted.
The engine was also rendered inoperable.
After establishing contact with the man through the satellite device, Coast Guard officials launched a rescue operation.
The hand-held device used by the distressed sailor allowed the Coast Guard to monitor his position.
Since the Alice was adrift nearly 500 miles from the Oregon coast, the Coast Guard deployed a long-range C-27J Spartan rescue airplane from Sacramento, California, to locate the vessel and keep an eye on its whereabouts.
The crew of the aircraft was able to assess the vessel’s sea state and the extent of its damage.
The plane is also equipped with the ability to airdrop life rafts, communication gear, and rations.
Those actions can help anyone in trouble stay safe as they wait for coordinated rescue efforts to take place from surface ships or helicopters.
At the same time, the Coast Guard also activated its Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) system.
AMVER is a Coast Guard-sponsored, global safety network that has the ability to locate participating commercial ships in the area.
They determined which ships were the closest to the distressed sailor and request assistance.
The crew of the Silver Whisper responded immediately and diverted toward the Alice to rescue the injured sailor.
A second C-27J aircrew from Sacramento also took off for the area to provide more communication and supervision.
Crew members aboard the cruise ship found the disabled sailboat and were able to pull the injured mariner off his vessel and onto the cruise ship.
The Coast Guard released video of crewmen’s rescue, pulling the sailboat’s injured captain to safety on board their own vessel.
The man was immediately given aid and medical attention by the Silver Whisper’s onboard medical team.
He was then transported to Vancouver.
“This mariner’s experience and preparedness allowed the Coast Guard and other agencies to communicate with him and effect a rescue,” Scott Giard, Coast Guard Northwest District Search and Rescue Program Manager said in a released statement. “His foresight to bring a satellite communicator averted a tragedy. We would also like to thank Silver Whisper for their assistance with this rescue.”
The injured mariner was sailing solo from the Hawaiian islands.
Authorities say he had plenty of food and water, a life jacket, a life raft, and the satellite communication device that made rescue efforts possible.
This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
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