Man imprisoned for joy ride

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ten days on the open sea has led to two years in a locked cell for Philip Charles Mesure.

He was sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing a $200,000 sailboat and taking it on a 10-day joy ride last year.

Mesure told investigators that during his voyage, he sailed 190 miles in one day and weathered storms alone, federal prosecutor John Stuart Bruce said.

Mesure claimed he was given permission to stay on the boat one night but set sail because he was threatened by bikers, Bruce said.

The boat, named the Leah Ward, had been docked on a marina in St. Augustine, Fla., last year when it was stolen. Mesure was arrested in April 2004 when he docked in Beaufort.