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Another Crazy Sailor
After clinging
to the hull of their capsized boat for half a day far offshore, a Florida
man and his 11-year-old daughter finally spotted land and decided to make
a frantic swim for their lives.
In May Benjamin Dilalla,
42, and his daughter, Celeste, swam five hours in the Atlantic Ocean—without
PFDs—and finally clambered ashore near Melbourne, suffering from
severe exhaustion and hypothermia. They were discovered at about 6:30
p.m. by local firefighter Danny Willman, 52, who found them lying naked
in the sand about 100 feet apart.
“He was so cold.
He couldn’t speak,” Willman said, according to the Daytona
Beach News-Journal. The pair was rushed to a nearby hospital, where
both fully recovered over the next several days.
Though their appearance
on the beach marked a happy end to a daylong search by the Brevard County
Sheriff’s Office, the details of their misadventure only raised more
questions. It turned out the circumstances of their disappearance were
as strange as their survival.
According to police
reports, Dilalla had come to believe that poisonous gases were spreading
across Florida and that the only way to save his daughter was to go out
to sea. “He had some mental health or behavioral issues and apparently
had stopped taking medication,” said police spokesman Gary Harrell,
according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The pair launched their
eight-foot sailboat late one night. Police became suspicious when they
found Dilalla’s truck at a beach access point and discovered signs
that a boat had been dragged across the sand. Later their concerns grew
when they saw boating debris wash ashore, including a seat, diving mask,
and pair of men’s boots.
Apparently after sailing
all night, Dilalla and his daughter realized their boat was taking on
water. When the vessel capsized in the morning, they clung to it all day
until deciding to shed their clothes and swim for the coast.
At presstime Dilalla
was being held for psychological evaluation. Celeste, whose father is
her sole guardian, was turned over temporarily to the state’s Department
of Children and Families.
81
The percentage of serious boating accidents in Florida in 2002 in which
the boaters involved were not wearing a PFD. —Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement, Boating
Safety
Things We Like
Talk about a design
you don’t see every day. The likely uncertified naval architect of
this landing barge took the cab of a semitractor-trailer and turned it
into a pilothouse. Capt. John G. Wampler, owner of the boat transport
business Have Yacht? Will Travel, spotted the monster truck while making
a delivery up the Cumberland River. On a scale from one to ten, we give
the design a 10-4, good buddy.
September Calendar
4-7. The In-Water Power Boat Show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
(215) 732-8001. www.acinwaterboatshow.com.
8-10. The Hot Summer Boat Show in Orlando, Florida. (407) 298-1167.
www.boatshowflorida.com.
10-14. The Lake Union Boats Afloat Show in Seattle, Washington.
(206) 748-0012. www.boatsafloatshow.com.
11-14. The International Boat Show in Newport, Rhode Island. (401)
846-1115. www.newportboatshow.com.
18-21. The Norwalk International In-Water Boat Show in Norwalk,
Connecticut. (212) 984-7000. www.discoverboating.com.
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