Post by tonya on Jul 13, 2006 20:13:42 GMT -5
July 13, 2006
Tossed boater survives 24 hours in ocean
By MARK I. JOHNSON
Staff Writer
A big wave and a dog combined to knock a New Smyrna Beach man off his boat in rough seas, but the boater managed to survive 24 hours in the Atlantic even though he wore no life jacket, Coast Guard officials said.
U.S. Coast Guard photo
Brian Wallaschlaeger's 32-foot sport-fishing boat was discovered beached at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday morning.
Brian Wallschlaeger, 34, was spotted by the crew of a U.S. Navy helicopter shortly after noon Wednesday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and hypothermia as he walked onto the beach of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County.
"He apparently swam ashore," said Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Carstens of U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral. "He had been in the water about 24 hours without a life jacket."
Carstens said Wallschlaeger was taken by Coast Guard helicopter to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. A hospital official said Wednesday night he was going to be admitted and was listed in fair condition.
The petty officer said the boat was 10 to 11 miles offshore, somewhere between Ponce de Leon Inlet and Air Force station property, about 11 a.m. Tuesday when Wallschlaeger went to the back of the craft to get something to drink. As the idling boat took a large wave, Wallschlaeger's black Labrador retriever slid across the deck and into the back of his legs, knocking him over the side, Carstens said. He said seas were reported at 4- to 5-feet.
Wallschlaeger, who has two artificial hips, was able to hold on to a platform on the back of the craft for a time, but when he let go to try to wave down some passing boaters, the boat drifted away.
The dog was found dead in the boat, Coast Guard officials said. It's unclear how he died.
A search for the lone boater began after 8 a.m. Wednesday, when base security officials discovered The Reel Deal, his 32-foot Albamarle sport fisherman, beached. Wallschlaeger was about two miles north of where the craft was found, the petty officer said.
Wallschlaeger left out of Ponce de Leon Inlet about 8 a.m. Tuesday on his way to Fort Lauderdale, the petty officer said.
mark.johnson@news-jrnl.com
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It's believed the lab died from a broken heart, stressed out after his owner fell overboard.
Tonya--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
