Chile navy locates solo U.S. sailor in South Pacific

SANTIAGO, Chile -- An 84-year-old American making his seventh attempt to sail alone around the tip of South America was found tired but alive by the Chilean navy on Wednesday after his mast broke far from land in the South Pacific.

The Chilean Navy located Thomas Louis Corogin on his 32-foot sailboat more than 520 miles south of Easter Island, stranded but in relatively stable weather, with ocean swells of about 15 feet.

Corogin activated his emergency beacon Tuesday morning, prompting the Navy to send out an Orion search and rescue plane, which searched a vast expanse of ocean. The plane had to return to Easter Island and refuel before going out again and spotting the tiny boat, Captain Jorge Bastias, the Navy's top spokesman, said.

The Navy then arranged for a Japanese merchant ship, the White Kingdom, to pluck Corogin off the vessel and its captain reported that he was in good health. The Navy said the White Kingdom with the U.S. sailor on board is en route to Chile and probably will arrive at Valparaiso on Saturday.

Corogin, a lawyer who runs a small marina in Port Clinton, Ohio, set sail from Easter Island on Dec. 27. The broken mast wasn't his only mishap during this adventure -- he had sent an email saying he was briefly hospitalized in Ecuador with a cut to his leg, said a friend and fellow sailor, Jack Majszak.

"Tom is the most unique person I've ever met," said Majszak, who invited Corogin to lecture to his Modern Sailing School and Club in Sausalito, Calif., last year after meeting with him in the Panama Canal.

Majszak described Corogin as an experienced sailor and storyteller -- he even wrote a spy novel, "Agape" -- who felt comfortable on his Westsail32, a boat known for its stability more than its speed.

"He should be fine, it's a very stable boat," Majszak said. "The 15-foot swells shouldn't be too bad as long as they don't come too quickly. If he battens up the hatches and goes down below the boat will bob like a cork and he should be fine. As long as he's not seriously hurt, that's the key."

Rex Damschroder, a sailor and state lawmaker from Ohio considers Corogin a sailing mentor as well as a friend, said it had always been Corogin's dream to sail around Cape Horn.

He never gave up on the idea despite past failed attempts, Damschroder said.

"Each time he's had different issues, whether mechanical or physical," Damschroder said. "He might be 84, but he's got the body and stamina of someone much younger."

Damschroder, who's from Fremont, Ohio, said he and his friend sailed across the Atlantic Ocean together in 2005, making their way to Ireland.

"I've sailed and spent a lot of time with Tom, he knows what he's doing," said Damschroder, who added that some of his equipment is on Corogin's boat, including an anchor and life raft. "It's risky for anyone of any age. I'd take him over any 20-year-old sailing."

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Michael Warren contributed to this story from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and John Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Warren can be reached at www.twitter.com/mwarrenap