Shipwrecked Sailor Found Near Florida Hanging On To Bow Of Capsized Boat

PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA (VINnews) — A 62-year-old man was rescued from the ocean Sunday after surviving for many hours while hanging on to the bows of his capsized boat.

Stuart Bee, a seasoned sailor, left Cape Marina at Port Canaveral in Florida about 4 p.m. Friday aboard the 32-foot Sea Ray, Stingray, which he apparently lives on. He was reported missing shortly before noon Saturday by a marina member who told U.S. Coast Guard officials that Bee does not normally stay out overnight. The Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs and Border patrol dispatched a  a C-130 Hercules aircrew and also asked boats in the vicinity to keep an eye out for Mr. Bee.

Bee did decide to spend the night at sea but the next day he suffered a mechanical problem disabling his boat and late on Saturday night as he was sleeping, the front cabin started filling with water.

Petty Officer First Class David Micallef, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, said that the boat “filled up with water almost immediately.” The vessel quickly capsized and the force of the water pushed Bee out of the front hatch and into the sea.

In the meantime, Bee hung on to a few floating cushions. He said his boat didn’t sink, but because he was not sure if the boat was going to sink he held on to the floating cushions.

After about three hours of hanging on to the cushions, Bee decided to head back into his boat to retrieve something to help him get rescued.

“About three or four times I swam back into the boat, trying to retrieve it, but I couldn’t,” he said. “I was prepared to continue to try that until I could get it but that’s when I saw the Angeles [a cargo ship traveling from the port of Puerto Barrios in Guatemala to Delaware] on the horizon – just as a dot.”

He said he watched the ship for about 15 minutes when he realized it was coming toward him.

That’s when he took off his shirt and waved it several times for about 45 minutes, he said, as the boat got closer, at the same time holding on to the bows of his boat, the only part not submerged in the water. He lost his glasses in the process

“It blew its horn and since nobody was around, I figured that was a signal that they were on watch and they saw me,” Bee said.

Bee swims to cargo ship, with bow of his boat visible behind

Bee ascending the cargo ship (Twitter image)

Bee decided to stay on the ship until Wilmington rather than being picked up by the Coast Guard.

Speaking after the ship docked, Bee said that being on the cargo ship  was “better than a cruise ship,” Bee said.

“I’ve been on one once and these guys are just the nicest people ever. They kept feeding me. I said ‘I don’t don’t need that much.’

“We’re all friends now.”