Wave with missing owner

Coast Guard searching for boat's owner
Saturday, August 30, 2014
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By:
Andrew Blom

The Coast Guard is looking for the owner of an unmanned sailboat that was found ashore on Martha’s Vineyard yesterday.

Officials say they received a call at about 10 p.m. last night for a 13-foot Hobi Cat “wave” model sailboat that was found washed ashore with the sail up and the rudder down. It was reported to have lines hanging and dirty footprints on the deck.

Boat and air crews from the Coast Guard canvased the area for possible people in the water while local police searched houses to locate the owner.

"A case like this illustrates why it's extremely important for folks to document their vessels and make them easily identifiable," said Richard Elliott, the command duty officer at Sector Southeastern New England. "We have multiple crews searching the entire body of water from Naushon Island to Martha's Vineyard - but we don't have any additional information about the vessel or its owner."

Anyone with information about the boat or its owner is urged to call the Southeastern New England Command Center at 508-457-3211.

The search, Saturday morning, by air and sea for the owner of a catamaran found washed up on the beach late Friday near Lake Tashmoo on Vineyard Sound ended when the owner called the Coast Guard and explained that he had left the boat on the beach.

“A case like this illustrates why it’s extremely important for folks to document their vessels and make them easily identifiable,” Richard Elliott, the command duty officer at Sector Southeastern New England, said.

The search began when the caretaker for a property west of the Tashmoo opening found the sailboat just on the beach and called Tisbury police. The man was concerned because the sail was up, the rudder was down and it did not appear as there had been any effort to pull the boat up on the beach, Sergeant Chris Habekost told The Times.

“There was no sign of anyone around and he was concerned that someone might be in the water,” Sergeant Habekost said.

Initially, watchstanders at Sector Southeastern New England received a call at about 10 pm, Friday from the Dukes County Communications Center that the unmarked 13-foot Hobie Cat Wave model was washed ashore with the sail up and the rudder down, Coast Guard officials said in a press release. It was reported to the Coast Guard that the Hobie Cat had “lines hanging and dirty footprints on the deck.”

“In response, boat crews from Station Woods Hole and Station Menemsha, an aircrew from Air Station Cape Cod, and the Coast Guard Cutters Ridley and Hammerhead all began canvassing the area for possible people in the water,” the Coast Guard said.

Police went from house to house in the nearby area in an attempt to locate the owner.

“At first light, an aircrew aboard an HC-144a Ocean Sentry search aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod and Coast Guard Auxiliary Aircraft also conducted searches of Vineyard Sound.

It was not until the owner contacted the Coast Guard that the mystery of the washed up boat was solved.

Moron. Leaving the boat with sails up all night. I hope they charge him some money for the search.