The families of two Florida teenagers missing at sea are asking the public to help in their search. Their 19-foot white single-engine boat was located Sunday, capsized and unmanned roughly 67 miles off the shore of their last known location. “We know it can happen and we’re hoping it happens again”. Nick Korniloff, Perry’s stepfather, said the family had rules about where Perry could take a boat without adult supervision.
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The family is looking for specific pieces of debris, like a YETI cooler and Yamaha engine cover without any stickers, to wash ashore. Instead, they believe they were fishing offshore when the weather turned bad and “something went amiss”. “If you’re not surrounded in this community or you don’t have it running through your blood, you’ll never be able to understand it. But we can assure everyone that these boys are skilled and knowledgeable and strong enough and have what they need to get through this”.
“It’s a lot of water out there”, Namath said.
“Both boys are very, very comfortable on the water”, said Perry’s mother, Pamela Cohen. One empty life-jacket was spotted floating near the boat.
Their love of the sport defined them, friends said.
Their parents described the teens as experienced boaters and fishermen. The search continues for the boys, from the Atlantic waters off Daytona Beach, Fla., north through Savannah, Ga.
The pair was reported missing from Jupiter, Florida, on Friday afternoon.
The boys were last seen Friday afternoon buying $110 worth of fuel near Jupiter and were believed to have been heading toward the Bahamas. The search has continued, day and night. By Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard had scoured an area the size of West Virginia.
Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard 7th District said that water is relatively warm, but “it’s a risky environment, and there’s only so long you could stay in the water”.
Search crews looked for the man throughout Sunday night and into Monday.
A candlelight vigil was held at Jupiter Inlet Park on Monday for Austin and Perry.
The mother said she wouldn’t even “bat an eye” about the boys’ ability to survive at sea. A summer storm passed through the area, and Austin and Perry’s families began to worry about where they were. “I could have just helped out in any way”. A Coast Guard HC-130 airplane and three cutters were involved in the search.
Though the boys’ boat was overturned it did not appear damaged.
And recently here in Charleston, the local Coast Guard made a rescue many are calling “miraculous”, four boaters rescued after more than 16 hours lost in the ocean.
Former New York Jets football star Joe Namath, a neighbor and friend of the Korniloff’s, joined the effort as a spokesman.
“They know how to make fresh water”.
He said they often talked about boating to the Bahamas. “It doesn’t matter; those are salty dog kids. They truly believe they’re going to find them”.
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Material from Associated Press was used in this report. Residents released dozens of lanterns into Monday’s twilight. Regardless of what the requirement is, I’d ask folks to avail themselves of boating safety classes. Identification cards for persons completing the course or the equivalency exam are good for a lifetime.
