Kim Whitmyre
01-13-2006, 09:52 AM
Boater Survives (http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3397909)
Lost in the ocean more than 18 hours, boater lives
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff
LONG BEACH — A man survived more than 18 hours in frigid ocean waters wearing only a T-shirt and shorts after slipping off his 68-foot pleasure boat, which ran aground Thursday morning on Catalina Island with no one aboard.
Craig McCabe, 59, was discovered hanging to the buoy, exhausted and suffering from hypothermia, about three miles off the Port of Los Angeles just after 2:15 p.m., authorities said.
McCabe, an avid boater, was taken to St. Mary Medical Center with a body temperature of 90 degrees, but is expected to make a full recovery, said Dr. Jonathan Lawrence of St. Mary.
"That's quite a feat for anybody to survive that long," Lawrence said. "He's very lucky."
McCabe's ordeal began sometime Wednesday afternoon, not long after he set out for a quick trip from Marina del Rey to Newport Beach aboard his 1970 diesel-powered motorboat, Heather, officials said.
McCabe told rescuers he slipped off the boat somewhere near Point Fermin in San Pedro and swam an unknown distance to the buoy, said Long Beach Firefighter Paul Rodriguez.
He apparently spent the night hanging to the buoy and awaiting rescue, although details of his time stranded on the water were unclear, and McCabe was unable to be interviewed during his recuperation late Thursday.
About 11 a.m. Thursday, the Heather was spotted after running aground on Catalina Island at Willow Cove, about midway between Avalon and Isthmus beaches, said Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini.
The vessel's engine was still running, but no was aboard, prompting Coast Guard authorities
to launch a massive sea search involved three helicopters, five boats and one airplane and stretching from Marina del Rey to Orange County and west to Catalina Island.
About three hours later, a pleasure boat that learned of the search located McCabe on the buoy and contacted Long Beach firefighters, who had a rescue boat in the area. Paramedics treated McCabe aboard the private boat as it headed toward shore, and then transported him to St. Mary, where he was treated for hypothermia and a small bump to his head, which may have occurred when he fell off his boat, Lawrence said.
Friends who visited McCabe at the hospital said he was exhausted but thankful to be on dry land.
"He's a pretty lucky guy," Mark Stratton said. "He's obviously used one of his nine lives."
Stratton said the lawyer and father of two adult daughters is an experienced boater who may have fell off the boat while tinkering with a dingy line near the Heather's stern.
"Sailing's his life," Stratton said. "He's confident on the water and he knows his own cruiser very well."
Kristopher Hanson can be reached at kristopher.hanson@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1337.
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Sailing's his life? Note that Catalina is approximately 19 miles from where he slipped overboard: his vessel motored the distance.
[ 01-13-2006, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: Kim Whitmyre ]
Lost in the ocean more than 18 hours, boater lives
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff
LONG BEACH — A man survived more than 18 hours in frigid ocean waters wearing only a T-shirt and shorts after slipping off his 68-foot pleasure boat, which ran aground Thursday morning on Catalina Island with no one aboard.
Craig McCabe, 59, was discovered hanging to the buoy, exhausted and suffering from hypothermia, about three miles off the Port of Los Angeles just after 2:15 p.m., authorities said.
McCabe, an avid boater, was taken to St. Mary Medical Center with a body temperature of 90 degrees, but is expected to make a full recovery, said Dr. Jonathan Lawrence of St. Mary.
"That's quite a feat for anybody to survive that long," Lawrence said. "He's very lucky."
McCabe's ordeal began sometime Wednesday afternoon, not long after he set out for a quick trip from Marina del Rey to Newport Beach aboard his 1970 diesel-powered motorboat, Heather, officials said.
McCabe told rescuers he slipped off the boat somewhere near Point Fermin in San Pedro and swam an unknown distance to the buoy, said Long Beach Firefighter Paul Rodriguez.
He apparently spent the night hanging to the buoy and awaiting rescue, although details of his time stranded on the water were unclear, and McCabe was unable to be interviewed during his recuperation late Thursday.
About 11 a.m. Thursday, the Heather was spotted after running aground on Catalina Island at Willow Cove, about midway between Avalon and Isthmus beaches, said Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini.
The vessel's engine was still running, but no was aboard, prompting Coast Guard authorities
to launch a massive sea search involved three helicopters, five boats and one airplane and stretching from Marina del Rey to Orange County and west to Catalina Island.
About three hours later, a pleasure boat that learned of the search located McCabe on the buoy and contacted Long Beach firefighters, who had a rescue boat in the area. Paramedics treated McCabe aboard the private boat as it headed toward shore, and then transported him to St. Mary, where he was treated for hypothermia and a small bump to his head, which may have occurred when he fell off his boat, Lawrence said.
Friends who visited McCabe at the hospital said he was exhausted but thankful to be on dry land.
"He's a pretty lucky guy," Mark Stratton said. "He's obviously used one of his nine lives."
Stratton said the lawyer and father of two adult daughters is an experienced boater who may have fell off the boat while tinkering with a dingy line near the Heather's stern.
"Sailing's his life," Stratton said. "He's confident on the water and he knows his own cruiser very well."
Kristopher Hanson can be reached at kristopher.hanson@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1337.
--------------------------
Sailing's his life? Note that Catalina is approximately 19 miles from where he slipped overboard: his vessel motored the distance.
[ 01-13-2006, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: Kim Whitmyre ]