A Colorado man endured a long night in the Gulf of Mexico after a fishing boat overturned.
Ken Harper of Colorado Springs was fishing with his long-time friends Gilbert Gastineau of Clearwater, Fla., and Randy Waldorf of Kansas on Gastineau’s 23-foot boat. About 20 miles out, they encountered rough waves.
“I think we had electrical problems, and the boat took on water and capsized,” Gastineau said.
The three men spent the night in the water clinging to the side of the capsized boat.
“The waves were hitting into us all night long and they would throw us into the side of the boat and basically I spent 18 hours clinching a rope,” Waldorf said.
Around midday, a crew from Florida Fish and Wildlife found the three and pulled them out of the water. All three were bruised, dehydrated, hungry and sunburned. Gilbert Gastineau, 69, was hospitalized overnight for treatment of bruises and dehydration.
The Coast Guard credits the success of the rescue to the three men letting friends know where they were planning to fish.
