Coast Guard Station Castle Hill 45-Foot Response Boat-Medium file photo
BOSTON — The Coast Guard rescued an 80-year-old man Monday after he set sail from Cuttyhunk to New Bedford and didn’t check-in as expected.
Peter Horan’s caretaker called watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at about 11:45 a.m. reporting that Horan was missing in his 34-foot cabin cruiser, Best Friends, after he didn’t return to New Bedford at noon as planned.
Aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and boat crews from Coast Guard Station Woods Hole and Coast Guard Station Menemsha, along with crews from various partner agencies, scoured the Buzzards Bay area searching for Horan and his boat.
While monitoring Ch. 16 during the search, watchstanders overheard a radio hail from a good Samaritan in Rhode Island calling the vessel Best Friends. Watchstanders launched Coast Guard Station Castle Hill after determining the hail was coming from a sailing vessel near the Sakonnet River.
The 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew arrived on scene and escorted Horan to awaiting family and Emergency Medical Services at Sakonnet Harbor.
Crews searched about 425 square miles, almost the size of New York City.
Partner agencies who assisted in searching for Horan include:
- New Bedford Fire Department
- New Bedford Harbormaster
- New Bedford Police Department
- Marion Harbormaster
- Mattapoiset Harbormaster
- Westport Harbormaster
- Dartmouth Police Department
