The United States Coast Guard rescued a 7-year-old girl and her mom after the pair and their pets became trapped in the path of Hurricane Gilma. The mother reportedly contacted the Coast Guard about a deceased male on their boat and their need for assistance getting to safety. An aircrew successfully located the family 925 miles east of Hawaii, and brought them to safety.
The US Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific posted pictures of the ordeal on Facebook and shared that the mother, child, and all pets were safely rescued.
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The sailboat could have been in serious danger.
According to a news release, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a stress call around 12:30 p.m. on August 24. A 47-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter were "beset by weather and in need of rescue." The mother reported a man on the boat had died and made the desperate call for help.
"The Hercules crew could not establish direct communication with the woman but saw her light two distress flares and observed the sailboat drifting and taking waves over the beam. On-scene weather conditions were 6-foot seas and 20 mph winds," the release reads.
Coast Guard and US Navy officials set out to rescue the family.
Crews attempted to reach the mother and child multiple times on Sunday, but could not safely do so due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions. Crews tried at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on August 25, but were unable to help them.
"The tanker crew remained on scene until 5 a.m. Monday, when the William P. Lawrence arrived. With seas greater than 25 feet forecast within 12 hours of their position and the damaged condition of the Albroc, the William P. Lawrence had a six-hour window to safely conduct small boat recovery operations. A small boat crew from the Navy ship launched and rescued the woman, girl, a cat and tortoise from the sailboat," the release reads.
The crew was unable to recover the body of the man who died.
Due to the storm's nature, the crew could not remove the man's body. The sailboat remains adrift about 1,0000 miles east of Honolulu.
"While saddened by the loss of the sailing vessel's master, I couldn't be prouder of the combined efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy who saved the lives of two other passengers," Vice Adm. John Wade, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement. "I'm particularly grateful for the professionalism exhibited by the crew of USS William P. Lawrence who executed the rescue flawlessly under extremely dangerous conditions."
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The family arrived safely in Hawaii on August 29.
According to US Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific's Facebook post, the mother, child, and pets arrived at Joint Base Peral Harbor-Hickman "safe and sound" on August 29.
"Through tireless planning, coordination and teamwork, our watchstanders pieced together the key elements needed for such a dynamic search and rescue case. The use of an EPIRB was also crucial and allowed our aircrews and partners to pinpoint the sailboat's location. We are grateful the crews of the Seri Emperor and William P. Lawrence were able to reach the mother and daughter, who were caught right in the path of Hurricane Gilma," said Kevin Cooper, search and rescue coordinator for the case.
