A Jamaican man was rescued off Fort Pierce, Florida on Friday after 36 hours at sea
A fishing crew spotted him clinging to a boat that capsized as he tried to enter the U.S. from the Bahamas
Six other people on the boat are missing and presumed dead after the Coast Guard gave up the search
The rescued man was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration, and was taken for medical care
Coast Guard and Fort Pierce police had no further information on his fate
Ten other people were lost trying to cross into the US near Key West on Monday
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According to WPBF, the man told the boat crew that he d been stranded at sea for some 36 hours, and the six people he traveled with from the Bahamas had disappeared into the Atlantic, and he d drifted about 100 miles north. Cornell told Treasure Coast Newspapers that the man was stiff, he had been in the saltwater for almost 36 hours. He wasn t going to make it through the day.
The Coast Guard eventually arrived and took the man to help him recover. On Sunday night, the Coast Guard suspended the search for the six other people who were reported as missing.
Man stranded at sea for 36 hours rescued by Fort Pierce charter boat
The man s boat capsized shortly after leaving the Bahamas Share Updated: 11:17 PM EST Feb 16, 2021
The man s boat capsized shortly after leaving the Bahamas Share Updated: 11:17 PM EST Feb 16, 2021
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Show Transcript LEFT THE YACHT CLUB. WHAT THEY ENDED UP CATCHING WAS SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE. YOU HAVE TO DO IT. YOU HAVE TO HELP. IT WAS A VERY EYE-OPENING AND HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE THAT HE WENT THROUGH. ARI: AND ONE HE SURVIVED, BUT ONLY BECAUSE A CHARTER BOAT OUT OF FORT PIERCE HAPPENED TO FIND HIM. THE SOUTHERN EAGLE WAS ONLY 20 MILES OUT WHEN CAPTAIN CHASE CORNELL SPOTTED SOMETHING ON THE RADAR. I TOLD THE GUYS THAT MAY BE WE FOUND SOMETHING TO GO FISHING ON. THEY GOT RODS READY DOWNSTAIRS. ARI: A FEW MOMENTS LATER, CORNELL REALIZED IT WASN’T A FISH. I SAW THE GENTLEMAN RAISE HIS HAND AND START WAVING AT ME. IT’S A PERSON!
For a minute there I was thinking, This is very bad. There s no one around, Stuart Bee said.
Crew members Robert Lynch and Jack Hendrix said the sight of the castaway in the middle of the ocean will stick with them forever. Next thing you know, Chase is upstairs saying, It s a person! Help him! It s a person, Hendrix recalled in the interview with WPBF.
Lynch added, You have to help. And that s just what we were doing.
Lynch said he grabbed a life preserver and tossed it to the man, who dove onto the ring.
Cornell and his crew said that when they got the man, who was wearing a life jacket, aboard their 18-foot boat, he recounted a harrowing journey that started in Bimini, Bahamas, two days earlier.