A woman, her daughter, and their pets were all rescued from a sailboat by the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard the other day. The family had ventured out on the sailboat when some turbulent weather pushed them about 925 miles off the coast of Hawaii. Luckily, this mother's quick thinking and the heroic actions of rescuers got her, her daughter, their cat, and their tortoise safely returned to shore.
Honolulu Receives A Distress Alert
Shortly after the family was stranded in their sailboat, the woman sent out a distress signal through an emergency radio beacon. According to Fox News,
"The watchstanders issued a SafetyNET broadcast which disseminates maritime safety information to all ships in the area, conducted a query of vessels and launced an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew to search for the stranded people in the sailboat."
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After some searching, the airplane crew spotted the vessel off the coast of Hawaii. Fox News described the vessel as "a 47-foot French-flagged vessel called the Albroc." The woman on board was sending out a mayday called explaining that she, her daughter, and their pets needed assistance.
While rescuers could not communicate with the woman directly, they were able to see her lighting two distress flares, both of which ultimately helped them be rescued from the sailboat.
Woman, Daughter, And Pets Rescued From Sailboat
Screenshot from USCG Hawaii Pacific X Account
In addition to the airplane crew, the watchstanders also asked for assistance from others. Some of those other individuals included the "Navy's Pacific Fleet and 3rd Fleet" and the Seri Emperor, a "754-foot Singapore-flagged liquid petroleum gas tanker."
The airplane crew found the woman and her daughter waving their arms for help at 9:00am on August 25th but could not make contact with them. Later in the day, around 5:20pm, the Seri Emperor arrived on the scene to assist. However, they were unable to rescue the family from the sailboat due to worsening weather conditions.
An approaching hurricane was making this rescue all the more harrowing. According to the Coast Guard, "The William P. Lawrence had a six-hour window to safely conduct boat recovery operations. Noting seas greater than 25 feet forecast within 12 hours of their position and the damaged condition of the sailboat."
A Happy Ending For This Mother, Daughter, Tortoise, And Cat
Even with all of the difficulties presented to them, the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy were able to rescue the mother and daughter from their sailboat. Additionally, their pet tortoise and cat were also rescued from the sailboat. However, reports indicate that there was also a deceased man on board.
Fox News reports, "Because of weather conditions on the scene at the time of the rescue, there were eight to 10-foot seas and 15mph winds, the deceased man could not be safely recovered." While leaving the ship's captain behind was devastating, the Coast Guard is proud of their valiant efforts to save the woman, her child, and their pets.
The vessel still remains adrift about 1,000 miles off the coast of Hawaii.
