Posted on: Monday, October 25, 2004
Two Navy sailors rescued at sea
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two Navy sailors whose recreational boat apparently sank Saturday spent the night bobbing in the ocean, drifting miles apart from each other, until they were picked up — exhausted but safe — in separate rescues yesterday.
"They were treading water the whole time," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson. "Had they not had life jackets on, their chances of survivability would have been slightly different."
Neither the Navy nor the Coast Guard released the names or ranks of the men.
The younger man, 28, was picked up by a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter at 7:40 yesterday morning nine miles off the Wai'anae Coast. The other, 36, was later rescued by a boater piloting the Nina G. near the "S" buoy located 4.1 miles off Poka'i Bay on the Wai'anae Coast, Johnson said.
The two men had set out for sea in a 21-foot Bayliner Saturday morning from Hickam Air Force Base and were planning to return Saturday afternoon. Instead, around 11:30 a.m., they sent out a distress call saying their boat was taking on water.
A Coast Guard helicopter search Saturday found nothing.
When the men were reported overdue at Hickam by someone who was supposed to meet them, the Coast Guard launched another search that lasted overnight involving a Dolphin helicopter, a 41-foot utility boat and a 110-foot patrol boat.
Yesterday morning, a Coast Guard crew member aboard a C-130 plane spotted the 28-year-old man in the water waving his bright orange life jacket over his head. The Coast Guard crew member called for the helicopter that picked up the sailor.
He was flown to Kalaeloa, transferred to an ambulance and taken to Tripler Army Medical Center in stable condition. He was released yesterday, a Navy spokesman said.
The 36-year-old who was picked up by the boater was taken to Wai'anae Boat Harbor, where he, too, was transferred by ambulance to Tripler in stable condition. He was still being treated for exhaustion yesterday, according to the Navy.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.
