An 86-year-old sailor and his dog were found alive 460 miles off San Diego after two months of silence
An 86-year-old man sailed out of Astoria, Oregon, in August, bound for American Samoa with his dog. Nobody heard from him after 20 August. Last week a ship’s crew found them both alive, 460 miles off San Diego.
5 November 2026
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
An 86-year-old sailor and his dog have been rescued 460 miles off San Diego, two months after anyone last heard from him, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The trip
The man left Astoria, Oregon, in August on his sailboat, the Willow Wind. He was heading for Pago Pago in American Samoa, with his dog on board.
His last contact was on 20 August. On 24 October he was reported overdue, and the Coast Guard started to search.
The rescue
Three days later his emergency beacon went off. That evening a Coast Guard plane spotted the Willow Wind, 460 miles off San Diego.
A merchant ship, the Grand Orion, reached him early the next morning. The sea was too rough to take him off at first. Later that day the crew brought him and his dog aboard.
The next morning a Coast Guard helicopter lifted them both off the ship, about 170 miles west of Ventura, and flew them to San Diego. He went to Scripps Mercy Hospital to be checked.
The Willow Wind’s sails were torn, and the boat was left to drift. The Coast Guard has not named him or his dog.
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Yesterday: After a mother and father screamed for help in a New Jersey parking lot, a teen’s CPR, learned in a class two days earlier, saved their baby’s life. The five were teen’s CPR saved baby’s life.