****** lost at sea in 13ft boat for six days rescued hundreds of miles from land in the South Pacific
A ****** of four lost hundreds of miles out to sea in the Pacific ocean for six days have been rescued.
They were spotted adrift in a 13ft-long aluminium boat by the New Zealand Air *****.
A fast rescue ship was then dispatched by the U.S. Coast Guard to pick then up 2,300 miles south of Hawaii and 230 miles from the atoll of Butaritari, the nearest body of land.
The ****** - a 53-year-old man, a woman aged 54 and two boys aged seven and eight - have been treated for mild hypothermia, malnourishment and dehydration.
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The group had departed from Kiribati aboard their sailing vessel on October 31, intending to take a six-mile cruise, but had become lost in the South Pacific after their small outboard motor failed.
The ****** were then left adrift in open water without a radio or water and with only a small amount of foot for nourishment.
Captain James McCauley, commanding officer of the USCG cutter that rescued the ****** after a New Zealand air ***** plane spotted the boat, said the ******'s sailboat had drifted 'over 200 miles' from their home after embarking.
'The coast guard district in Honolulu had laid out several search areas, one for my ship the Rush and three for our helicopter wing,' Capt McCauley told CNN.
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'We searched a total of 600 square miles and when a New Zealand air ***** aircraft arrived on scene, they located the vessel after about a half hour of searching and we were arrive a few hours later just before sunset and come aboard the boat.'
The ******'s vessel, a 13ft aluminium skiff, had been floating without any protection for almost a week yet its passengers were in 'pretty good condition', Capt McCauley claimed.
'They were glad to get aboard [our] ship and get a warm shower, a soft bed to lay down in and a few good meals before we got them back home the next day,' he explained.
Kiribati, a South Pacific nation composed of 33 coral atolls that straddle the Equator - had made an international appeal for help with the rescue operation on Thursday.
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