Captain rescued after surviving Hurricane Milton inside cooler: boat owner

The skipper rescued from the h2o aft surviving Hurricane Milton was wrong a cooler anterior to being rescued by the Coast Guard, Steven Hawley, proprietor of the now-sunken boat, the Capt. Dave, told Fox News Digital during an October interview.

"That's the lone crushed helium didn't get eaten by sharks oregon freeze," Hawley said.

The Coast Guard rescued the skipper connected Thursday Oct. 10 pursuing Hurricane Milton, a tempest that made landfall successful Florida.

FLORIDA RESIDENTS BEGIN PICKING UP THE PIECES FROM HURRICANE MILTON

A Coast Guard chopper unit rescued a antheral clinging to a cooler astir 30 miles disconnected the seashore of Longboat Key, Florida connected Thursday. (U.S. Coast Guard Southeast)

Video footage shows the skipper seemingly floating connected the cooler, arsenic idiosyncratic dangling from a chopper draws adjacent to marque the rescue.

But that was really the 2nd clip successful a substance of days the skipper had been rescued by the Coast Guard. 

The skipper and a deckhand had been rescued earlier successful the week aft the vessel became stranded, Hawley indicated.

COAST GUARD VIDEO SHOWS HELICOPTER CREW RESCUE MAN FLOATING ON A COOLER 30 MILES OFF FLORIDA COAST AFTER STORM

But aft that archetypal rescue, the skipper returned to the boat, and yet ended up successful a perilous situation, which helium survived.

The skipper is "alive" and "well," Hawley said. 

But "that vessel is ne'er gonna beryllium seen again," helium remarked. 

2 BOATERS MISSING AFTER SAILING TO AVOID HURRICANE MILTON: COAST GUARD

This GOES-16 GeoColor outer representation taken astatine 12:15 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Milton successful the Gulf of Mexico, disconnected the seashore disconnected Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.  (NOAA via AP)

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"This antheral survived successful a nightmare script for adjacent the astir experienced mariner," Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg's bid halfway chief, Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady said, according to a Coast Guard property release. 

"To recognize the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimation helium experienced astir 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended play of clip to see overnight. He survived due to the fact that of a beingness jacket, his exigency presumption indicating locator beacon, and a cooler," Grady said.