Coast Guard and Navy rescue mother, daughter stranded on sailboat outside of Hurricane Gilma
The woman, 47, and her child, 7, were on a 47-foot sailboat flying a French flag. Also onboard were a cat, tortoise and a deceased man.
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HONOLULU – Rough seas beset a sailboat carrying a woman, her child and a deceased man about 1,000 miles east of Hawaii on Aug. 24. They were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, who hurried to reach the family ahead of Hurricane Gilma.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders received a distress signal from the family at 12:33 p.m. on Saturday. The USCG said the JRCC inquired about vessels near the location of the distress signal.
Rescue aircraft were dispatched and, when they arrived on-scene, they saw the 47-year-old woman and her 7-year-old child on a 47-foot sailboat flying a French flag. The woman sent a mayday call saying that a deceased man was onboard.
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The boat appeared to be drifting and taking waves over the beam, according to USCG officials. The weather conditions included 6-foot seas and 20 mph winds.
The following morning at 9 a.m., another aircraft crew reached the family, but were unable to establish direct communications.
At 5:20 p.m., a Singapore-flagged, 754-foot liquid petroleum gas tanker arrived after making an 18-hour trip to the sailboat. However, deteriorating weather conditions due to approaching Gilma prevented them from rescuing the woman and child.
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They remained on-scene until the Navy’s USS William P. Lawrence arrived on Monday. The crew realized they only had about a six-hour window to safely rescue the woman and child, as seas greater than 25 feet were forecast within 12 hours of their position.
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The Navy ship then launched a small boat crew and rescued the woman, her daughter, along with their cat and tortoise, amid 8- to 10-foot seas and 15 mph winds.
The body of the deceased man could not be retrieved due to the deteriorating weather conditions, according to the USCG.
The woman, daughter and their pets arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday, but their sailboat remains adrift about 1,000 miles east of Honolulu.