Dramatic Video of Coast Guard Rescuing Man and Dog
Unanswered Question: Why Were They Sailing in Hurricane Helene's Path
ABC News bulletin:
The United States Coast Guard has rescued a man and his dog as Hurricane Helene fast approached them when his boat became disabled and started taking on water 25 miles out to sea, officials said.
The sailor and his dog were on a 36-foot sailboat on Thursday when the boat started taking on water, leaving the man and his canine stranded in the ocean approximately 25 miles off of Sanibel Island with no help or support nearby, according to a statement from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater released early Friday morning.
“Coast Guard crews responded to the boater’s distress call and rushed to the man’s location, approximately 25 miles offshore from Sanibel Island near Fort Myers,” authorities said. “A successful rescue attempt was made and the unidentified sailor and his dog were saved and brought back to land.”
Officials have not disclosed why the man was out to sea while small craft advisories and hurricane warnings had already been issued in the area as Hurricane Helene was expected to make landfall.
The media can’t or won’t figure it out but I can think of 2 or 3 reasons this fellow might have been where he was during the storm. 1. If he was normally in a Marina, many marinas have rules against staying tied up during a storm. And he might have been forced to leave. I have found this to be the case in many Marinas. Most ALL marinas require a boat owner to have a high level of liability insurance to even tie up these days. The prevalent Marina attitude these days seems to be “Give me your money, now leave”. This attitude is not only directed at boaters during storms but also towards boaters who have dreamed of a life of living aboard or wish to do so.
2. If he had been on a mooring or at anchor, perhaps he felt the ground tackle or mooring he was on was not up to the task and if dragging or breaking free would have occurred he might have felt any damage caused by his drifting boat to another craft or vessel would be beyond his ability to afford.
3. It is common knowledge that leaving a confined area or port during a storm is the safest place for a boat to be during severe weather. This is preached in many nautical and maritime circles and has been for many years. Maybe he felt that this was his best choice for survival at the time at the time. There are many reasons for this thinking that are too numerous to mention here. At any rate, I don’t feel as if he should be judged prematurely by a misinformed media.
4. It is very true that there were shelters provided probably nearby to him that would have offered him a safe place to go in a storm. But it is also likely that like many people who choose to live aboard, he would have no alternatives to becoming homeless if his boat was lost and in his view the best way to protect his property was to stay with it.
They should charge the idiot the cost of the rescue and endangering the dog.