A Virginia couple was situated unscathed Friday, 11 days after their sailboat hit tough climate within the Atlantic Ocean they usually couldn’t be reached, officers stated.
Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, each 65 and from Virginia Seaside, Virginia, stated the vessel they deliberate to sail to the Azores and on to Greece was struck by lightning, thwarting the journey however leaving them unhurt, the U.S. Coast Guard stated.
The pair radioed Coast Guard watchstanders in Virginia to say they’re alive and properly and en path to the boat’s house port in Hampton, Virginia, the Coast Guard stated in an announcement Friday.
The couple stated they rigged a spare sail after the lightning strike, the navy department stated. The boat was not in misery, it stated.
The Coast Guard stated Friday the vessel was situated 80 miles east of the barrier island city of Chincoteague, Virginia.
Certainly one of Jones’ daughters reported the couple’s state of affairs to the Coast Guard after, she stated, they reported crusing in tough climate about 460 miles east of the Virginia Coast on June 13, Terrell stated Tuesday.
The daughter, who was not named, instructed rescuers the couple determined to go house after they confronted stormy seas. They weren’t near the Azores of Portugal after they sailed into inclement climate.
The pair had been incommunicado for days, even because the Coast Guard stated it will attempt to attain them by maritime radio. Earlier within the week, the navy department flew an HC-130J plane over the realm the place the couple reported tough climate, however no proof of their voyage was discovered, officers stated.
They set sail June 8 from the Fort Monroe marina in Hampton on their boat the Kyklades, the Greek phrase used to explain circle of islands on the coronary heart of the civilization throughout the Bronze Age.
The couple was married or soon-to-be wed, in line with a submit on Jones’ Fb web page a couple of mixture bon voyage social gathering, sixty fifth birthday, and “marriage ceremony,” on the finish of Might.
“It’s actually great the pair will likely be reunited with their family and friends quickly,” James Cifers, operations unit watchstander within the Coast Guard’s Fifth District Command Middle, which covers the Mid-Atlantic states, stated in Friday’s assertion.
