ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (WSVN) — He was dehydrated, sunburnt and faced the threat of a shark attack, but a boater who went missing off the Florida coast was finally found after surviving for nearly 35 hours in the open water.
Ben Lynn said he feared the worst when he saw a U.S. Coast guard boat speeding off. He had captured drone footage of crews off St. Augustine Beach, Saturday morning.
“Immediately, the first thing I saw when I come out here was boats heading up to the north, which is very strange, ’cause usually you might see one or two fishing boats, but this was a lot,” he said, “and so, it looked like probably over 20, maybe almost 30 boats out there.”
But this turned out to be a best-case scenario, as crews safely rescued 25-year-old Charles Gregory at around 10 a.m. after searching for him for about a day.
Eight different agencies took part in the search, and at one point, rescuers almost lost hope.
“We were able to saturate this entire area by boat and aircraft very quickly,” said U.S. Coast Guard Officer Nick Barron. “Because of the thoroughness of our searches up to this point, we figured, we had high confidence that if he was out there, we would have found him.”
A Coast Guard crew found Gregory 12 miles off the coast. His boat was submerged in water but still floating on the surface.
Crews said he had a floating cushion but no life jacket.
Officials said the boater also had a cellphone on him. While it couldn’t ping his location and didn’t offer much help, he was OK.
“He seems in good spirits but tired and dehydrated,” said Barron.
The incident remains under investigation, but Coast Guard officials confirmed Gregory is going home to his mother, who rejoiced when she heard the news.
Lynn also rejoiced.
“Oh, that’s a relief. You know, you always assume, like, worst-case scenario, because there was a lot of boats out there for a long time, and it’s like, I don’t know, we’re on the beach, we don’t know,” he said, “so it’s nice to hear that yes, he was OK, he’s reunited with his family. That was really good.”
Gregory’s father said his son is exhausted, dehydrated and is suffering from a muscle condition related to dehydration, but he still kept his wits about him.
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