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Men and dog missing for 10 days amid journey to Florida Keys found on powerless sailboat

Wake of a ship across the Atlantic Ocean, on a beautiful day. (Lisa Strachan, Getty Images)

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. ā€“ Amid a planned journey to the Florida Keys, two men and a pet dog were rescued from a sailboat without power or fuel more than 200 miles off Delaware, 10 days after friends and relatives had last heard from them, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.

Kevin Hyde, 65, and Joe Ditomasso, 76, were sailing from Cape May, New Jersey, to Marathon. But they disappeared after their Atrevida II sailboat left North Carolinaā€™s Outer Banks on Dec. 3.

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The Coast Guard was notified Sunday that the two sailors were overdue and launched a search that would stretch from Florida to New Jersey, the agency said. Coast Guard cutters and aircraft participated in the search along with ships from the U.S. Navy and commercial and recreational vessels.

ā€œCoast Guard, Navy, and maritime partners searched a combined 21,164 square miles of water, spanning from northern Florida to the waters east of New Jersey,ā€ the agency said in a news release.

On Tuesday, Hyde and Ditomasso waived their arms to draw the attention of the crew of the Silver Muna tanker ship off Delawareā€™s coast, the Coast Guard said.

The sailboatā€™s lack of fuel or power rendered its radios and navigation equipment inoperable, according to the Coast Guard.

The men and the dog were brought aboard the tanker shortly after 4 p.m. An evaluation by the shipā€™s medical staff revealed no immediate concerns, the Coast Guard said.

The two men will stay aboard Silver Muna until it arrives in New York, where the Coast Guard will evaluate them further and reunite them with their family and friends.

ā€œThis is an excellent example of the maritime communityā€™s combined efforts to ensure safety of life at sea,ā€ Daniel Schrader, a Coast Guard spokesman said in a statement.

Cmdr. Schrader also stressed the importance of sailors traveling with whatā€™s commonly known as an ā€œEPIRBā€ or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It allows people on a boat to immediately make contact with first responders in an emergency.


About the Authors
Chris Gothner headshot

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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