QUOTE FROM KABC-TV 7 LOS ANGELES:
Quote:
NEWPORT BEACH, January 4, 2007 - A commercial fishing vessel on Thursday was within hours of reaching a solo American sailor who has been stranded on his disabled yacht for nearly two days off the southern tip of South America, family members said.
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The ship Polar Pesca I was expected to reach 47-year-old Ken Barnes by 2 p.m. PST. Another ship was due in the area, about 500 miles off the Chilean coast, around 7 p.m. PST.
The fishing vessel was expected to take Barnes to Punta Arenas, on Chile's southwestern tip, where he would be treated and possibly flown to Santiago, Chilean and American officials told his family. The ship had a paramedic team, food and fresh clothing on board.
Barnes left Long Beach on Oct. 28, hoping to be the first solo sailor from the West Coast to circumnavigate the globe. He hit a fierce storm about a week ago that broke both of the vessel's masts and its hatches, disabled the steering and soaked Barnes' supplies and food.
A Chilean navy search plane spotted Barnes around 5 p.m. PST on Wednesday and dropped a life raft that missed the boat, Barnes' longtime girlfriend, Cathy Chambers, said.
Another Chilean search plane flew over the boat at 5 a.m. Chilean time and took pictures of the disabled vessel that were posted on his Web site.
Two Chilean planes, taking turns refueling, were hovering over the boat Thursday while Barnes waited for the rescue craft, Chambers said.
Barnes has his own life raft, however, and was wearing a survival suit to keep him warm, she said. Chambers, who lives with Barnes in a Newport Beach condominium, said she last heard from him at 8:17 a.m. PST Thursday after Barnes was somehow able to recharge his satellite phone overnight.
Barnes told Chambers in the brief call - his seventh by satellite phone - that he was surviving on Pop tarts and granola bars. He has a small cut on his leg, she said.
"He's doing the best that he can. There was a ray of hope when I told him they were on their way to him," Chambers said. "He's a survivor, he's a fighter and he's very methodical in his thinking."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Baroody said the embassy had been in contact with Barnes' family and Chilean authorities, and has "full confidence" in the capacity of Chile to handle the emergency.
Two other boats - a merchant ship from Malta and a Chilean naval tug - were also en route to Barnes.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Chilean maritime officials picked up signals from his distress beacon Tuesday afternoon.
Chambers said a Chilean-American HAM radio operator in Riverside had been instrumental in coordinating the rescue with the commerical fishing vessel. The operator, Michael Morales, contacted HAM operators in Chile, who talked to the fishing vessel, she said.
Friends, family and reporters gathered in the condo's hallways and bedrooms awaiting news.
Earlier Wednesday, a Chilean navy search aircraft flew over the area where Barnes' boat was believed to be, but clouds and rain kept the plane's crew from spotting the yacht, navy press officer Paula Paredes said by telephone from Punta Arenas, nearly 2,000 miles south of the capital of Santiago.
Chambers said she had supported her boyfriend's dream to sail around the world, but after this week had changed her mind.
"He can sail but he's not doing this again," she said. "He attempted it, he tried it, but after what I know now - no way! His life is too important."
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Poor guy. I hope his dream does come true sooner or later.
Here's a link to his site:
Ken Barnes' Website 
Planes Watch Over American Adrift Off Chile Coast 
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