Gulf Coast Sailors Survive Week at Sea
Many Gulf coast sailors cross from Tampa to the central Gulf to stop and fuel or rest. But the Coast Guard had to rescue this boat after a 30,000 square mile search. Here is the story from wkrg.com: The Coast Guard has located two sailors missing since Monday. One of the men, 68-year-old Thomas Edwards, is from Gulf Shores.
On Saturday, Edwards and his friend, Charles Daggett, left Clearwater, Florida aboard a 35-foot sail boat called Fly Away. They were supposed to arrive in Panama City on Sunday, before continuing on to Corpus Christi, Texas.
But the men never made it to Corpus Christi, so Daggett’s wife called the Coast Guard Monday. Since then, the Coast Guard and Air Force have searched more than 31,000 square-miles of the Gulf of Mexico and the Intercoastal Waterway between Clearwater and Corpus Christi.
Around 5:00 p.m. Friday, Edwards and Daggett made contact with the Coast Guard station at Ft. Walton Beach. The men said wind pushed them south after the engine on their sail boat died.
Edwards and Daggett said they are currently sailing to Fort Walton Beach