The Navy late Sunday released a photo of the rescue of a San Diego family with a sick infant from a disabled sailboat 925 miles off Cabo San Lucas in the Pacific Ocean.
Eric and Charlotte Kaufman and their daughters Cora and Lyra, were planning to sail around the wold on their 36-foot sailboat, Rebel Heart, when 1-year-old Lyra became sick and the boat lost its steering and some of its radios.
Sailors from Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Vandegrift rescued the family via the frigate’s small boat as part of a joint Navy, Coast Guard and California Air National Guard rescue effort.
An Air National Guard rescue team from the Bay Area parachuted into the ocean to board the Rebel Heart Thursday evening. They remained with the family until the San Diego-based USS Vandegrift arrived Sunday morning.
The family and four Air National Guard personal were then safely moved from the sailboat to the Vandegrift, and the ship is expected to arrive in San Diego on Wednesday
U-T San Diego reported that the Kaufmans’ yacht was being sunk because it was taking on water.
— City News Service contributed to this story
