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Imperfect Crew Saved from Perfect Day
Fair weather sailboat captain didn't
bring enough gas for trip from Bermuda to Annapolis...or something
PORTSMOUTH,
Va. - Three people were rescued from 15- to 20-foot seas approximately 100 miles southeast
of Cape Hatteras, N.C., by a Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew on June 28, 2004 at about
9:20 p.m. two days after a previous rescue had been made when they ran out of gas.
Robert Seay, 43, of Annapolis, Md., called the Coast Guard Atlantic Area
Command Center in Portsmouth via satellite phone at about 7:15 p.m. requesting
that he and his two-person crew be evacuated from their 30-foot sailing vessel, the
Perfect Day, after it started taking on water.
A Helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City,
N.C., lowered a rescue swimmer into the treacherous seas and hoisted the three men to
safety. A Coast Guard C-130 was also on scene.
Personnel at the Atlantic Area Command Center had been contacted by Seay
two days earlier when he activated his 406 EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon) after his vessel ran out of gas 270 miles east of the Carolina Coast. Coast Guard
rescue coordinators directed a C-130 airplane and an AMVER vessel (Automated Mutual
Assistance Vessel Rescue System) to respond. After the C-130 located the Perfect Day, the
AMVER vessel gave Seay and his crew fuel, water and provisions enabling them to
continue on their voyage.
Seay and his two crewmen, Brad Howard, 41, and Bruce Serinis, 53, were
taken to Air Station Elizabeth City and are in good condition.
The crew of the Perfect Day was heading back to Annapolis from Bermuda.
