86-year-old sailor and his dog rescued after two months missing, found 460 miles off San Diego

An 86-year-old sailor and his dog have been rescued after more than two months missing at sea. He set out in August aboard the 33-foot sailboat Willow Wind from Astoria, Oregon, bound for Pago Pago, American Samoa, roughly 5,000 miles away, and was last heard from on August 20. On October 24, family members reported him overdue; on October 27, the sailboat's emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) activated, and a Coast Guard C-27 Spartan aircrew spotted the drifting boat that night about 460 miles off San Diego.

Merchant ship took them aboard after 14 hours; helicopter lifted them to hospital

The merchant vessel Grand Orion answered the call and arrived on scene at about 3:20 a.m. on October 28, but rough seas made a transfer too dangerous; at 5:36 p.m., more than 14 hours later, the crew finally brought the man and his dog aboard, leaving the Willow Wind, its sails damaged, adrift. The next morning, October 29, a Coast Guard Air Station San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted them from the Grand Orion about 170 miles west of Ventura, California, and flew them to Coast Guard Sector San Diego. Emergency medical personnel took the sailor to Scripps Mercy Hospital for evaluation. The Coast Guard said he had no major injuries and has not released the names of the man or his dog.

The beacon saved their lives

Cmdr. Jason Nguyen, command center chief for the Coast Guard's Southwest District, thanked the merchant mariners and Coast Guard crews for the coordinated rescue. The rescue was a relay effort: after the Rescue Coordination Center in Alameda received the beacon alert, it launched a C-27 Spartan from Air Station Sacramento, diverted an HC-130 Hercules and the cutter Robert Ward, and asked nearby ships to help. The story was widely reported from November 3.