A boater reported missing off the Florida Panhandle spent the night lost at sea, sitting atop his capsized sailboat, officials say.
Alan Blair Marsh was rescued after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter saw him more than 50 miles northwest of where he set sail.
Gulf County Sheriff’s Office officials say the 57-year-old was reported missing by his wife, who said he departed Cape San Blas around 6 p.m. on Monday, March 25.
“Shortly before 10 p.m., he had not returned yet,” the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office reported in a March 26 news release.
“The boater … was last seen heading west around sunset. He did not have any communication devices or emergency equipment other than the life jacket he was wearing.”
Deputies joined the Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in a search that covered the water and area beaches, officials said.
The helicopter crew spotted Marsh at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, “just outside of the West Pass near St. Andrews State Park.”
FWC officers set out in a boat and found him “sitting on top of his overturned vessel, two miles southeast of Panama City Pass,” state officials told McClatchy News.
“He was recovered without injury and reunited with his family at the USCG office in Panama City,” the FWC said.
Details of what caused his 16-foot Hobie Cat to flip were not released. The area saw winds of 20 to 22 mph during the search, forecasters say.
Marsh and his wife were visiting from Leeds, a sheriff’s office report states.
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