At approximately 1900 hrs on Sat eve June 22, 2009 a skipper and crew set out on his fairly nice Hobie 18.

At approximately 1930, the boat capsized in 18 knots of breeze and calm seas and the skipper was separated from the boat, and it was moving away from him faster than he could swim. The crew climbed the mast and purposely turtled the boat to slow headway, the skipper swam to the boat and boarded.

At approximately 2030 as the sun was setting, the 70' sailing vessel Chardonay II, with 49 passengers aboard saw the vessel in distress and altered course. Chardonay II made contact with the Vessel, radioed the Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol and stood on scene until the Harbor rescue vessel arrived.

The crew was taken aboard and the last known coordinates were reported to the Coast Guard.

Vessel Assist was hired the next morning and started a 6 hour search. Additional coordinates were given to Vessel Assist from a Coast Guard plane that happened to be searching for an overturned fishing boat in the same area.

The boat wasn't found until today in this condition:





These guys were lucky. The water is about 56F, that's a cold night in the water!

What could they have had aboard to facilitate their own rescue?

J