Florida bound sailors, missing for 10 days, found on powerless sailboat
MIAMI - Two men and a pet dog were rescued from a sailboat without power or fuel more than 200 miles off Delaware, 10 days after friends and relatives had last heard from them.
Kevin Hyde, 65, and Joe Ditomasso, 76, were sailing from Cape May, New Jersey, to Marathon, Florida. But they disappeared after their Atrevida II sailboat left North Carolina's Outer Banks on Dec. 3.
The Coast Guard was notified Sunday that the two sailors were overdue and launched a search that would stretch from Florida to New Jersey, the agency said. Coast Guard cutters and aircraft participated in the search along with ships from the U.S. Navy and commercial and recreational vessels.
On Tuesday, Hyde and Ditomasso waved their arms to draw the attention of the crew of the Silver Muna tanker ship off Delaware's coast, the Coast Guard said.
The sailboat's lack of fuel or power rendered its radios and navigation equipment inoperable, according to the Coast Guard.
The men and the dog were brought aboard the tanker shortly after 4 p.m. An evaluation by the ship's medical staff revealed no immediate concerns, the Coast Guard said.
The two men will stay aboard Silver Muna until it arrives in New York, where the Coast Guard will evaluate them further and reunite them with their family and friends.
"This is an excellent example of the maritime community's combined efforts to ensure safety of life at sea," Daniel Schrader, a Coast Guard spokesman said in a statement.
Cmdr. Schrader also stressed the importance of sailors traveling with what's commonly known as an "EPIRB" or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It allows people on a boat to immediately make contact with first responders in an emergency.