11 OCTOBER 2002: MMM,
CHOCOLATE PUDDING.

Florida man rescued after being lost
at sea

Friday, October 4, 2002
Posted: 12:44 PM EDT (1644 GMT)

 CHARLESTON, South
Carolina (AP) — A Florida man who was lost at sea for more

than two months was rescued
40 miles off the coast, officials said.

    The Coast
Guard reached Terry Watson, 43, around 7 p.m. Thursday. Emaciated and

weak, Watson was suffering
from dehydration, delusion and shock, officials said.

    “I
died a month ago,” Watson told The Post and Courier after he was assisted
off

a Coast Guard rescue
boat.

    Watson
and his 23-foot sailboat called the Psedorca were found 42 miles

southeast of Little River
Inlet, which is located near the North Carolina-South

Carolina border, the Coast
Guard said.

    Authorities
say Watson was last spotted in Miami on July 19. The captain of

another boat said he was
traveling with Watson around the Florida Keys and

reported the boat missing
July 23.

    A search
of more than 8,000 square miles turned up nothing.

    Officials
aren’t sure how Watson survived. He apparently used his broken mast to

rig a shelter, but Coast
Guard crewmen said they had not been able to talk with

Watson long enough to determine
how long he has been without food and water.

    A charter
fishing boat captain found Watson and his ship at 1:25 p.m. Thursday

and radioed the Coast Guard
for help, authorities said.

    A helicopter
dropped a rescue swimmer near the boat, but Watson refused to leave

his vessel.

    “The
helicopter apparently scared him, and he was not in good physical

condition. He could barely
move,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Carr.

    The Coast
Guard then sent a rescue boat from Georgetown. When it arrived, Watson

again refused to leave his
boat, Carr said.

    Though
the crew was prepared to use force to remove him to safety, they

eventually persuaded Watson
to come aboard Thursday evening, Carr said.

    He arrived
at the Winyah Bay Coast Guard Station wearing a black and red life

vest, a thermal underwear
shirt, tattered green pants and brown hiking boots.

    At times
he appeared disoriented, giving a rambling answers to questions. Other

times, he appeared more
coherent, the newspaper reported.

    “The
Coast Guard is very nice,” Watson said. “I just need some food. I’ll be
all

right. I wouldn’t mind
having some chocolate pudding.”

    Watson
was taken to Georgetown Memorial Hospital for observation.