Coast Guard rescues boat captain clinging to cooler after Hurricane Milton

The U.S. Coast Guard spotted him — about 30 miles from shore off Longboat Key, Fla., clinging to a cooler in the water.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, the Coast Guard’s command center chief in St. Petersburg, Fla., said in a news release.

Hurricane Milton and its aftermath left at least 15 people dead. The storm — which came after Hurricane Helene hit Florida and a number of other states in late September — spawned strong and deadly tornadoes before it made landfall, while heavy rains and storm surges caused flooding on Florida’s east and west coasts.

The captain, who was not named in the release, survived the extreme conditions in a particularly precarious position. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight,” Grady said in the release.

The fishing vessel, identified in the release as the Capt. Dave, had broken down earlier in the week some 20 miles off John’s Pass in Pinellas County, and the captain and another crew member were rescued from it on Monday.

Around noon on Wednesday, the owner of the fishing vessel reported to the Coast Guard in St. Petersburg that the captain went out to the boat alone to make repairs around 3 a.m. and hadn’t checked in. “Watchstanders were able to make radio contact with the captain who reported the rudder was fouled with a line and became disabled during his transit back to port,” the agency said in the release.

At the time, the Coast Guard said, the winds were about 30 mph and there were 6-8 foot waves. As conditions began deteriorating with Milton’s approach, Coast Guard officials told the man to wear a life jacket and to hold onto the boat’s emergency beacon so he could be located. Hours later, around 6:45 p.m. — about two hours before Milton made landfall some 20 miles south of John’s Pass — the agency lost contact with the captain.

The next morning, around 5:30 a.m. Thursday, the service sent airplane and helicopter crews to search for him.

About eight hours later, the captain was found clinging to the open cooler and rescued about 30 miles off Longboat Key. A Coast Guard aircrew flew him to Tampa General Hospital for further care.

“He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler,” Grady said.