On November 23, 2007, Craig Peterson, a 33 year-old sailor, left his home in
Oregon without leaving details of his destination. The only
information his family had was that his plan involved tuna fishing and
a goal of reaching Alaska in his 25-foot Catalina Jack.
His family had dealt with such vagaries before. In January of the
same year, Peterson revealed his desire to sail to Hawaii and was
shortly after spotted by Coast Guard officials when he illegally
crossed the Ghetco River bar near the Oregon-California border.
Despite pleas to return and warnings of severe conditions, Coast
Guard Petty Officer Scott Harrison failed to convince Peterson to
follow him back to port. The next day, when conditions were subdued,
Harrison set out once more to track the Catalina and it's stubborn
owner. After some coaxing and verbal resistance, the members of the
Coast Guard were finally able to board Peterson's boat and tow him
back to safety.
Eleven months later, just seven days into his Alaskan journey,
Peterson was at sea during what Jim Day, a crab fisherman from Brookings, Oregon, described to Soundings magazine as "the worst [storm] of the year." In 45-knot winds and 35-foot seas, the Coast Guard crew set out for yet another rescue mission after receiving a nighttime call from a man with a broken rudder.
A helicopter crew hovered for two hours battling fierce swells and
wind as it waited for Peterson to dismount from his waterlogged
vessel. A rescue swimmer was deployed to escort Peterson into a
basket which was lifted to safety just as the helicopter reached its
minimum fuel state.
According to a Coast Guard press release, Peterson was on board with
one personal floatation device and a flare gun. Without a back up
radio and survival suit to protect from the water, Peterson was highly
ill-equipped for the Pacific's winter waters . "No one fishes for
tuna [in the winter]," Day told Soundings. "December is the
worst month for weather."
Watch a video of the rescue here:
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