Boat Captain Rescued Clinging Onto Floating COOLER During Hurricane

The captain of a boat in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued on Thursday. Rescue workers found the man clinging to a floating cooler after being flung from his boat during Hurricane Milton.

At a glance:

  • A fishing boat captain survived Hurricane Milton by clinging to a cooler while adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The man had been previously rescued by the Coast Guard on Monday but went back out to repair his boat during the hurricane.
  • He endured 75-90 mph winds and 20-25 foot seas before being rescued again on Thursday afternoon, 30 miles from Longboat Key, Florida.

A stranded fishing boat captain off Florida’s coast survived a harrowing ordeal as he drifted through Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, clinging to a cooler and wearing a life jacket. The captain, whose name has not been released, was rescued Thursday afternoon by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), 30 miles from Longboat Key, after enduring extreme conditions from the powerful storm.

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This was the second time the man had been rescued by the Coast Guard during the same week. The first incident occurred on Monday afternoon when the captain and a crew member became stranded in a disabled boat 20 miles west of St. Petersburg, Florida. The Coast Guard quickly responded, rescuing both men and bringing them safely back to the base in Clearwater, Florida. The boat was left adrift, with plans for later salvage operations.

Despite the rescue, the captain returned to the boat early Wednesday morning, just hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall. At around 3 a.m., he set off to repair the disabled boat but soon found himself in peril again. By noon, the boat had become disabled once more as the hurricane approached. The Coast Guard communicated with the captain via radio, urging him to don a life jacket and stay with the emergency locator beacon. Conditions were rapidly worsening, with seas reaching 6–8 feet and winds gusting at 30 mph.

Tragically, the Coast Guard lost contact with the man by 6:45 p.m., just as Hurricane Milton was intensifying. The hurricane, with winds of up to 130 mph, made landfall less than two hours later in Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm. The captain was left alone in the Gulf, facing 75-90 mph winds and seas up to 25 feet high.

The Coast Guard resumed its search for the man early Thursday morning after the storm passed. By the afternoon, he was found alive, floating with the aid of a cooler and his life jacket. Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, from Sector St. Petersburg, commended the captain’s survival instincts in what she described as a “nightmare scenario” for any mariner.

“To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight. He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler,” Grady said.

The man was transported to Tampa General Hospital for medical treatment, though details of his condition have not been disclosed. His survival serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of venturing out in extreme weather conditions like Hurricane Milton.