A man from Florida was rescued on Thursday after being discovered clinging to a cooler about 30 miles offshore from Longboat Key.
The dramatic rescue was filmed and later shared by the U.S. Coast Guard. The man, identified only as the captain of a fishing boat, first reached out to the Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders on Monday to report that he and a crew member were stranded on a disabled vessel approximately 20 miles from the coast of John’s Pass.
A rescue boat and helicopter responded to the scene, successfully bringing them to safety. According to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard, “The vessel was left adrift and salvage arrangements were to be made.”
However, on Wednesday, just hours before Hurricane Milton was set to make landfall, the boat’s owner informed the watchstanders that the captain had returned to the vessel around 3 a.m. to carry out repairs. The watchstanders managed to establish radio contact with the captain, who reported that the boat had become disabled while attempting to return to port.
Due to rapidly worsening weather conditions, the Coast Guard was unable to reach him, and by 6:45 p.m., all communications were lost.
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The following day, a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami found him about 30 miles off the Florida coast, wearing a life jacket and clinging to a cooler.
“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” stated Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, chief of the command center at Sector St. Petersburg. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight. He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler.”
After the rescue, he was transported to Tampa General Hospital for treatment.