BAR HARBOR, Maine (AP) The U.S. Coast Guard has established communication with a sailboat previously reported to be in distress.
The Coast Guard said Monday evening that the three crew members of the 40-foot sailboat “The Dove” are safe, and were never in distress. The Coast Guard was alerted to a missing vessel Saturday morning with a 911 call. They traced the call to a location to about 20 miles south of Mount Desert Island, but found no evidence of the boat. It’s not yet clear who made that call.
The Coast Guard said Monday they established contact with the crew and were able to determine, through coordination with the families, that the three were safe. They were sailing off the coast of New York as they continued their trip south.
The three crew members were identified as Wilfredo Lombardo, Nathaniel Davis, and Charlotte Kirby.
Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said the search covered an area from Maine to Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard searched 2,700 nautical miles over the weekend.
