The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy rescued the passengers of a French-flagged vessel caught in bad weather off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, over the weekend, as well as a cat and tortoise that were along for the cruise.
Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a distress signal at 12:33 p.m. from a sailboat’s emergency position indicating radio beacon Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The endangered passengers were 925 miles east of Honolulu.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu responded by dispatching an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point to coordinate a rescue.
The crew arrived to find a 47-foot sailboat broadcasting mayday calls from a 47-year-old woman who said she and her 7-year-old daughter were on board and in dire need of rescue.
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The woman also said there was a dead man on board.
The rescue crew, unable to radio the woman back as her ship battled 20-mph winds and six-foot waves, requested help from the Navy’s U.S. 3rd Fleet and U.S. Pacific Fleet.