Bad Weather Complicates Search for Missing Boaters In Mobile Bay, Alabama

The Associated Press
Published: April 27,2015



 
Thunderstorms and high waves complicated Monday's search for four missing boaters in Mobile Bay, Alabama, who have been missing since powerful storms capsized their sailboats during an annual race Saturday. At least two other boaters have been confirmed dead from the accident.
The weather was worse Monday than during Sunday's search efforts, and the Coast Guard asked volunteers to stay on the shore and look for possible survivors there.
Earlier, crews used boats to search white-capped waters and asked volunteers to walk the shore in case anything washed up.
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More than 100 sailboats and as many as 200 people were participating in the 57th running of the race when the storm hit Saturday afternoon. Skipper Susan Kangal was on the water when it happened this weekend. She said the wind spiked from around 20 mph to 73 mph - 1 mph short of hurricane force - and the 34-foot-long craft she was piloting heeled over on its side.
Around the same time, as they were headed back to shore after finishing the 57th annual Dauphin Island Regatta, Connor Gaston and father Shane Gaston saw the wind yank the mainsail of their 16-foot catamaran. Within seconds, the boat flipped and dumped the two men into the roiling, frothy bay.
"After that we were in the water, we were holding on to the boat," said Connor Gaston, 26, of Helena. "The boat's being tossed around. We ended up cartwheeling around about three times."
Unhurt but soaked, the Gastons eventually righted their little boat after about 30 minutes in the water and sailed back to shore with a broken mast. Once the storm passed, Kangal's all-female crew of three women and five teens made it back safely to dock under engine power.
Steve Zito, commodore of the Mobile Yacht Club, had seven passengers on his boat when the storm hit.
"We were just finishing the race and the wind picked up. I cranked the engine and lowered the sails. It was a massive black wall of water and rain coming right at us," he said.
"I've never seen conditions this intense. It came on so fast," he said.
The Coast Guard said it would not release the names of the dead or missing until all the families are notified. The agency released a statement on behalf of the families thanking emergency response agencies and asking prayer for their loved ones.
The National Weather Service said heavy rains were possible through Monday night, and authorities asked volunteer searchers to remain on land to avoid any more casualties.
On shore, about 20 relatives of the missing gathered at the state-run Dauphin Sea Lab to await word of loved ones.
"This very difficult, very difficult for all of them," said Michael Brown of the American Red Cross. "There is still hope. The Coast Guard has told them they are doing an active search and rescue."
The annual race, sponsored by Mobile-area yacht clubs on a rotating basis, begins in the middle of Mobile Bay. Sailboats ranging in size from small catamarans to single-hull craft capable of carrying a half-dozen people or more race southward through the shallow waters toward Dauphin Island, a barrier island on Alabama's coast.
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