Coast Guard Finds Boaters Who Had Been Missing off Florida Panhandle

CAPE SAN BLAS, Fla. (AP) - Two boaters were rescued Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico, where they had survived for two days on an overturned catamaran by using a sail for warmth and to collect fresh water. A Coast Guard jet spotted Kenneth Heybrock, 49, and his son Joshua, 18, about 60 miles southeast of Cape San Blas, in Florida's Panhandle. The High Point, N.C., men were in good condition when a Coast Guard helicopter picked them up, but were taken to Apalachicola for medical treatment.

Petty Officer Lawrence Nettles said Joshua Heybrock, about to enlist in the Air Force, applied survival techniques he learned while preparing for boot camp. His use of the sail may have saved his and his father's lives, Nettles said.

"The kid knew what he was doing," said Nettles, a rescue diver. "I've been a rescue swimmer for 16 years and I've never had anybody found over 30 hours."

The father and son headed out Tuesday afternoon in an 18-foot Hobie Fox catamaran. Family members had expected them back before dark and called the Coast Guard when they failed to arrive.

Coast Guard aircraft, rescue crews and a cutter searched more than 40 hours for pair. Rough water obscured the view and hindered the search, officials said.

Both men had been wearing wet suits, helping them survive while hanging onto the hulls of the overturned catamaran.

"They're cold, shaken, wet," Coast Guard Commander Patrick Brennan, the helicopter's pilot, told The News Herald of Panama City. "But they're doing pretty well, considering what they've been through."

There were strong northerly winds that day but I can't remember if a small craft advisory was in effect.

North winds are tricky here because as you leave the shoreline, the wind is behind you and since the seas are coming off land, the waves haven't had a chance to build up much until you get out a few miles.

The net effect is that it looks very nice and innocent until too late. Once you're out there you will have to run against those seas to get back. Depending on what time of day, we had 10-footers offshore and 2-4 close in that day. A cold front had just passed through.

If you break the number one rule by going offshore without an anchor you end up at the mercy of wherever the seas want to carry you.

The bad news is that this happens all the time with inexperienced visitors.

On the other side of the coin, the Bermuda-Azores high pressure ridge will soon be building into place and our typical calm to near-calm seas come along with its SE flow. The Gulf gets what we call "slick-calm" in late spring and summer and often the surface calms into what looks like a huge mirror from just before sunset until just after sunrise.

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