SOS: Sailor stranded for three days on a desert island in the Bahamas

64-year-old man was rescued after spending three days stranded on a desert island in the Bahamas, after his sailboat was disabled.

#UPDATE: Additional imagery from @USCG Air Station Miami @USCGAux & @CBPAMORegDirSE aircrews from Friday's rescue of 64-year-old Dutch man stranded on Cay Sal, the Bahamas. The search and rescue mission was coordinated by Sector Key West watchstanders. @TheRBDF @USEmbassyNassau pic.twitter.com/X9oV5ziCC2

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) August 22, 2023

The US Coast Guard reported the rescue of a sailor who was stranded for three days on Cay Sal.

The man told the aircrew he’d been stranded for three days after his vessel became disabled during a voyage.

Cay Sal is an uninhabited island in the Cay Sal Bank, a large atoll consisting of 96 small islands about 30 miles off the coast of Cuba, the islands are territory of the Bahamas.

The sailor was first spotted by an auxiliary aircrew attached to Coast Guard Air Station Miami. The volunteers were flying over Florida Strait when they spotted signal flares from a small sailboat near Cay Sal, a remote island about 100 nm due south of Miami.