Officials said a 47-year-old woman aboard the vessel sent out a mayday call on Saturday afternoon reporting that she and her 7-year-old daughter ran into trouble due to weather and were in need of rescue.(USGC, Kevin Cooper)
By HNN Staff
Published: Aug. 29, 2024 at 3:47 PM HST
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy rescued a woman and child from a sailboat about 925 miles east of Honolulu on Wednesday.
Officials said a 47-year-old woman aboard the vessel sent out a mayday call on Saturday afternoon reporting that she and her 7-year-old daughter ran into trouble due to weather and were in need of rescue.
She also reported there was a deceased man on board, who officials identified as the sailboat’s master. Details on what led to the man’s death were not released.
USGC’s Hercules airplane crew arrived on scene and said they could not establish direct communication with the woman, but said they saw her light two distress flares and observed the sailboat drifting and taking waves over the beam.
On-scene weather conditions were 6-foot seas and 20 mph winds.
For further assistance, the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet and U.S. 3rd Fleet were asked to divert the USS William P. Lawrence to the sailboat’s location.
At 9 a.m. Sunday, a Hercules crew from Air Station Barbers Point arrived on scene and observed the woman and girl waving their arms before retreating inside the cabin.
By 5:20 p.m. Sunday, the crew of the Seri Emperor came to help but was unable to safely remove the woman and child from the vessel due to deteriorating weather conditions ahead of Hurricane Gilma.
With seas greater than 25 feet forecast within 12 hours of their position and the damaged condition of the boat, the Navy had a six-hour window to safely conduct small boat recovery operations.
Officials said a small boat crew from the Navy ship launched and rescued the woman, girl, a cat and tortoise from the sailboat.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the crew could not safely recover the deceased individual from the sailing vessel. At the time of the rescue, 8- to 10-foot seas and 15 mph winds were reported.
”While saddened by the loss of the sailing vessel’s master, I couldn’t be prouder of the combined efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy who saved the lives of two other passengers,” said Vice Adm.
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