Man spends night on buoy after boat breaks down

The Coast Guard rescued a New Jersey man who spent the night clinging to a buoy after his personal watercraft broke down near Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on Tuesday.

Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said Dylan Gowan, 19, was riding a PWC from New York City to Highlands, New Jersey, Tuesday when water swamped the vessel and caused it to stall. Gowan swam to a buoy northeast of Sandy Hook peninsula.

Several agencies searched for Gowan Tuesday night. The search was called off after a few hours.

A Coast Guard boat crew resumed the search at first light Wednesday morning and found Gowan swimming for the Sandy Hook shore. He was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard brought Gowan to Station Sandy Hook, where EMS and his family were waiting to take him to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.

"This is why we search, even when the odds are against us," said Capt. Thomas Morkan, the deputy commander of Sector New York. "You simply never know when fate or luck has intervened to keep someone alive long past the time that logic dictates otherwise. This is a good day for all of us in the search and rescue community."

Gowan posted "Haha im alive" to Facebook as well as links to news coverage of the search-and-rescue operation.

With the Associated Press