Man missing at sea 66 days found by Coast Guard

Saw this on the news. I'm wondering how he managed to survive exposure and staying on the overturned hull of a sailboat for 2 months?????

Just watched an interview and the talking points didn't add up. This will be interesting as more facts become available.

My thoughts exactly and he does not look too crispy after having been outside in the elements that long

Don't forget it was a sailboat, so it could have been 66 days since leaving his slip to clear the inlet and he capsized that day once outside.

Says that he dismasted, capsized & then righted a few days later, spent hours and hours in water up to his thighs for days in the cabin bailing to stay afloat. The weather off the Carolinas in January and February are very cold with temps below freezing most of the time so besides being a fantastic fisherman to stay well fed he must have lived in an immersion suite. If this story does pass the sniff test than this is one lucky individual to say the least.

And there were a bunch of sailors I'm sure glamorizing it all and just yelling "Go for it, don't worry, just look at what so and so did and he'd never been on a sailboat." Now this is a small group, but it's those who read the stories of the unprepared, untrained, on an inadequate boat who circumnavigated and find it heroic and then no matter the training or experience or boat, they just say "live your dream". There's a reason, unfortunately, that such a high percentage of rescues at sea and lives lost are sailors and generally not because of boat issues but lack of experience or conditions they shouldn't have been in.

I require a bit more convincing before I buy the complete story too.

Millions won't believe him...............................but I do.

I'm not saying all sailors. What I am saying is you join a forum that is primarily made up of sailors and you'll see way too much of that. I've seen much more of it among sailors than I have on power boaters. Now that said, I did see a case where a power boater was applauded for his courage in a particular crossing while he made some of the poorest judgments imaginable. He is lucky to be alive today and yet he was treated as a hero which could only encourage others to be as careless. Worst of all, at the end of it, when asked what he'd learned and what he'd do different, the answer was "nothing." But that said, a very common thread on sailing forums is to just go for it, that the way to learn is to get out and do it and then pointing out how some famous blogger with no experience crossed all the oceans in his small sailboat.

The last four rescues I'm aware of off Hatteras have been sailors and three were on days that none of the professional fishing captains would consider going out. The same holds true for other waters, such as off Texas. I'm not anti sailing, just anti boating of any sort without adequate knowledge and experience.

I've no reason to disbelieve him. My only question is how do you lose your rudder on one of the larger sailing yachts? He said in the news report this morning that it snapped off in heavy weather.

Would he had to have been floundering for that to happen? It sounds like he had his stern to the wind (maybe trying to get home?), and a freak wave took him over. That's pretty harrowing stuff.

This guy had no experience, he sailed a few times up and down the ICW.
(According to an interview with his mother)
First time offshore was when he got lost in the Atlantic.
Looks like no radio and boat in poor shape.
Not sure he is a "sailor", but rather an amateur.

I am the first one to advocate going out there and get your feet wet but common sense should be part of it. Otherwise stay at the dock.

When I was in Ft. Lauderdale some guys got a place mat map at the diner, and the Bahamas was only an inch away. So they rented about a 16' POS runabout and set off. These people do exist, and they walk among us. Some of them even drive. There's an old saying that "God saves fools and drunks". The rest of us depend on some degree of skill.

The oral surgeon who removed my wisdom teeth bought a boat, probably from what he made on the surgery. He then told the dental technicians in his office they could use it anytime they wanted. Now they had been on it, but never at the helm. There were dents and dings all over from docking, and they regularly got towed in. Finally they ran across a bar and ripped the lower unit off. Only at that point did he look for someone to give them some lessons.

The guy who was lost at sea and then rescued had no idea how to operate a sailboat, in fact clueless comes to mind:
(Lifted from a sailing forum, same guy 6 months before he set sail)

More info on this "sailor": He did not pray enough.

Welll this is the thing that gets me. Everytime I've been offshore in either Atlantic or Pacific, it's been with a trained crew. To me the winds in San Francisco Bay are strong enough that I've always felt out of my depth when out on them, and hence turn back.

How do you get the cajones to just head on out without any kind of preparation? The more I read about this the more I think he may have been out there for 66 days, but did his boat really capsize? The only boats I've seen capsize and stay afloat are sealed hulled vessels. His boat, to me, seems like it would have sunk.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

Boats can stay afloat indefinitely after turning turtle between air locked inside the hull and the construction of the vessel (in this case wood). What I read was that he got rolled and demasted. Once that happened he'd be a victim with no way to control the boat. So it would roll any time a wave hit it wrong, but the keel would always try to right the boat. The hard part is dewatering once righted. The ability to right itself is one reason sailboats are generally considered much better for extended ocean voyages.