Animals
How Charles Gregory Was Rescued After More Than a Day at Sea
Charles Gregory was sitting in a partly submerged boat when a Coast Guard aircraft spotted him on August 5, 2023. The boat was 12 miles off St. Augustine, Florida. His family had reported him missing the previous evening. Gregory, 25 at the time, had gone fishing and ended up spending more than a day at sea.
A wave, then a long wait
His father, Raymond Gregory, told CNN that Charles had gone out early on Friday, August 4, in a 12-foot jon boat. A wave knocked him overboard. He got back in, but the tide took him farther out. His phone, life jacket and throw cushions were gone. Back on shore, his family couldn’t reach him and contacted the Coast Guard that evening.
There was nowhere to get out of the sun
Raymond described his son getting badly sunburned on the open boat. There were jellyfish stings, too, and Charles had seen sharks in the water. Those details came from his father’s account after the rescue. He said the night was particularly hard: Charles was wet and cold, with the wind blowing over his sunburned skin. No exact air or water temperature was established in that account.
He waved his shorts at passing boats
At one point, his father said, Charles removed the motor to help the boat float. He also tried waving his shorts at boats and aircraft. Nobody spotted him then. His father described an attempt to be seen from a tiny boat; the official rescue account doesn’t establish that either of those actions helped crews find him.
An aircrew finally found the boat
An HC-130 Hercules aircrew located Gregory on Saturday morning. A Coast Guard Cutter Coho boat crew recovered him, then handed him over to a Station Mayport crew for the trip to Vilano Beach Fishing Pier and emergency medical personnel. The agency initially reported no medical concerns. By August 8, his parents told News4JAX he had been treated at a hospital and was back home with sunburn, dehydration and bruising. It was a report about his recovery in 2023, after his family’s long wait for news.
