KenBarnesRescue2
The Ken Barnes saga came to a safe conclusion on Friday morning when the crew of the fishing vessel Polar Pesca rescued the stranded sailor from his battered 44-foot ketch, Privateer.
Barnes was partway through a solo circumnavigation attempt on Tuesday when Privateer was struck by a sudden storm 500 miles off the west coast of Chile. Forty-knot winds and 25-foot waves dismasted the boat, flooded its deck hatches, and knocked out the steering system, but Barnes, 47, weathered the storm.
In response to EPRIP signals picked up on Tuesday afternoon, the Chilean navy and the United States Coast Guard directed several boats, including Polar Pesca, to Barnes location. Before losing power to his satellite phone on Wednesday night, Barnes had been communicating with his girlfriend and twin daughters in Newport Beach, California, where a full-scale media frenzy quickly took shape.
To visit Barnes’ website, click here.
To view a video of his rescue, click here.
