The things you learn when you can’t sleep. I am a Plank Owner of USS MCCLUSKY (FFG-41), so this was very interesting to me. I thought I would pass it on so others could marvel at it, too. At Sea off the coast of Costa Rica (Sep. 17, 2002) – Crewmembers from the U.S. Navy frigate USS McClusky (FFG 41) deploy one of the ship’s ridged hull inflatable boats (RHIB) to render assistance to 62-year-old Richard Van Pham, who was spotted adrift in his small sailboat by military aircraft conducting drug interdiction operations in the region. Van Pham was rescued by the U.S. Navy frigate USS McClusky (DDG 41), after being adrift at sea for 3 1/2 months. Van Pham set out for a short trip between Long Beach, Calif., and Catalina Island, when high winds damaged his mast, disabling his boat. U.S. Navy Photo
Hoisted aboard.
Telling his “Sea Story.”
Lost at Sea. Big ocean, small boat
USS MCCLUSKY (FFG-41) Three and a half months drifting from the Channel Islands off Long Beach, Ca to costa Rica!!! Can you imagine?!?! Didn’t he have even a cheap VHF radio? I take a VHF when I go kayaking in the Puget Sound, fer cryin’ out loud! Sigh. SteveF
