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Coast Guard Rescues Sailor Stranded in Water for 8 Hours

A man fell overboard from his 25-foot sailboat and was stranded in the water for eight hours before the Coast Guard and several police agencies came to his rescue.

They launched a search Friday after Natural Resources Police reported the sailboat was found floating south of Pleasure Island on Sparrow’s Point with its sails rigged, and a wallet and coolers on board.

The Coast Guard, Natural Resources police, and police from Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties and Baltimore City responded, and TowBoatU.S. assisted with the search.

Around 7:30 p.m., TowBoatU.S. found the man standing in four feet of water, waving his arms, just off the northern side of North Point State Park. He said he had fallen overboard seven or eight hours earlier, and had begun swimming.

North Point State Park Photo: Joanna Woerner/UMCES

The Coast Guard brought the man to Bowley’s Quarter Marina where EMS was waiting. He did not appear to have any significant injuries.

“A rescue like this highlights the importance of unity of search efforts and the relationships we have with not only our local, state and federal partners, but with the commercial salvage companies as well,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Ian McGoohan, an operations unit controller at the Coast Guard Sector Maryland-NCR command center.