We have to admire this guy’s determination, but we’re not sure he should make another attempt.
An 84-year-old American sailor found alive in the remote South Pacific told his rescuers his mast was so badly cracked that he couldn’t raise his sails without snapping it in two, Chile’s navy said Thursday.
But aside from scrapes, bruises and general exhaustion, Thomas Louis Corogin was in good condition, the captain of the Japanese merchant vessel White Kingdom told the Navy after pulling the sailor from his boat.
Corogin, a lawyer from Port Clinton, Ohio, was apparently frustrated at having to give up on his seventh attempt to sail alone around the tip of South America, one of sailing’s most difficult feats.
“He was physically wiped out,” said the merchant ship’s captain, R.G. Villamin, according to Capt. Jorge Bastias, a navy spokesman.
The mast was useless, Corogin apparently complained. “You couldn’t put up the sail without snapping it…there wasn’t any way to use it,” Bastias explained to The Associated Press.
Chile’s Navy sent out a search and rescue plane that had to refuel on Easter Island and then go back out again before finally locating Corogin’s 32-foot sailboat 520 miles to the south. The Navy then summoned the merchant ship to rescue him, and sent out a frigate with a helicopter and medical crew to pick him up. Their rendezvous was expected Saturday morning.
“The Chilean government is paying for the entire rescue, for various reasons, because it is party to international treaties that call for this, because it’s our role, our obligation to save lives at sea, and more than that, because this man didn’t have any accident due to bad decisions — he complied with all the safety measures,” Bastias said.
Injuries have ruined some of Corogin’s previous attempts to go around Cape Horn, including a broken leg and busted knee, said Charles Scott, a friend from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who has sailed with him in the past.
For the complete story, go to www.boston.com.
Come on guy give it up. That boat and equipment is not in good condition for this tiype of trip.
You put other people in danger to come get your ass. Hey use your head.
You have to give the sailor credit for his attempts especially at his current age of 84. I am 61 and sail solo on occasion on Lake Michigan in the US and have been hit with 50 knot weather lines that last for an hour. The Horn can be unforgiving when the storms rage and they last for more than an hour, possibly days on end. I respect his attempts and am glad he survived and was rescued. My hat is off to the Chilean rescue teams.
Who writes your Headlines? The article describes the determined Mr. Corogin as an 84 year old lawyer from Port Clinton, Ohio. A published biography confirms that he was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1953 following graduation from The Ohio State University. You folks sure don’t understand Big 10 Football and other inter-state rivalries on and along the shores of the Great Lakes. Calling a Buckeye, still hail and hearty enough to attempt this voyage at 84, a “Michigan Man” —them’s fight’n words.
“This man didn’t have any accident due to bad decisions — he complied with all the safety measures” – Chilean government.
“We’re not sure he should make another attempt.” Crusing Compass
Your biased because of his age – that’s not cool.