A US registered boat has washed up across the Atlantic three years after the crew were flung out
A 26ft motor boat has washed up on
the Spanish coast, three-and-a-half years after its crew were washed overboard off the coast
of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Scott Douglas and Rich St. Pierre were thrown into
the sea while attempting to cross a bar in 6-8ft sea conditions on 25 August
2008, and watched helplessly as ‘Nantucket’ drifted away from them.
It took them an hour to swim to
shore where they received first aid but, although the incident was reported to
the US Coast Guard (USCG), the boat had disappeared from sight and was gone,
they thought, for good. But 1,241 days later, on 17 January 2012, ‘Nantucket’
reappeared 20 miles off the northern coast of Spain after a lone voyage of some
3,500 nautical miles.
Madrid Maritime Rescue Coordination
Centre reported the finding of the boat to the USCG who was able to link the
vessel, a Regulator 26ft Queen Bee, to the 2008 incident. “It probably could
have floated for another three years”, said USCG spokesman Lt Joe Klinker.
Due to Spanish laws, the vessel is now owned by Spain.
The boat’s original owner, Scott
Douglas, said it was amazing that ‘Nantucket’ had turned up. He is now retired, but says he may turn the story of the boat’s
voyage into a children’s story.
