A B.C. fishing crew has found an American fisherman who had been missing off the Pacific coast for weeks.
John Planes and his Ucluelet fishing crew spotted an emergency life raft off the coast of Vancouver Island, Thursday morning.
What they found was shocking when they arrived at the life raft — an American fisherman who had been lost at sea for 13 days.
The American, who is unnamed at this point, departed from Washington State on Oct. 12.
“We were getting near the end of our fishing set and (a crew member) spotted the life raft,” Planes said.
“He hugged me right away as soon as he got on board. He was crying, he was just so glad somebody had actually picked him up.
“It was quite emotional. … It was pretty cool.”
The exact location of the rescue was about 40 nautical miles off Ucluelet, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria.
U.S. Coast Guards had been actively searching for the man and another, who remains missing, but did call off the search on Wednesday, just one day before the man was found.
It said two flight crews from Alaska, and a helicopter based in Astoria, have conducted a massive search, combing more than 36,000 square kilometres of ocean.
“This life raft saved this man’s life. Without that the water is icy cold, it would not take too long until (he) would have (gone) unconscious,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier.
“Just an unbelievable stroke of luck.”
The two Americans were aboard the 43-foot vessel Evening, which departed Westport at the south end of the Olympic Peninsula.
They failed to return as planned three days later, and were reported missing this past Sunday by one of their children.
On board the life raft, the man had run out of water by the time he was picked up and he said he was able to catch a salmon with some fishing gear he had.
Planes said the crew quickly whipped up the rescued man some breakfast.
“We made him egg and bacon sandwiches. … He ate two of those,” Planes said through a smile.
The rescue has been called a miracle by both the U.S. Coast Guard and Planes.
“To survive that long, … it’s a miracle,” Planes said.
The man has been taken to the hospital in Tofino in stable condition.
Neither U.S. nor Canadian officials could immediately say whether the rescue of the missing man would prompt a renewal of the search and rescue effort for the second mariner.
— with files from Simon Little