U.S. Coast Guard | November 29, 2006
Jacksonville, FL. - The Coast Guard has removed a man found on a barge
this morning whose sailing vessel collided with a tug and barge today
at about 5a.m.

Russell Joseph Bolton, 51, of Green Cove Springs, Fla., was sailing off
the coast of St. Augustine, Fla., when his 33-foot sailing vessel
collided with a 115-foot barge being towed by the 70-foot Ybor City.
Bolton was able to jump on to the barge before being thrown in the
water.

The crew of the American-flagged Ybor City was unaware that the sailing
vessel collided with their barge and spotted Bolton this morning at
about 10 a.m. The crew of Ybor City thought that Bolton may have been a
stowaway and called Coast Guard rescue coordinators at Sector
Jacksonville.

The rescue coordinators sent a boarding team to from Coast Guard
Station Mayport, Fla., along with a Customs and Border Protection
officer to board the barge. The Coast Guard boarding team handcuffed
Bolton until they could determine he was not a threat to their safety.


After the joint Coast Guard and CBP boarding team verified his identity
and nationality, Bolton was taken back to Sector Jacksonville on a
rescue boat from Station Mayport.

Bolton was not injured in the collision, and there was no one else
aboard the sail boat with Bolton during the collision.

Bolton lived aboard his sailing vessel and will be taken to an American
Red Cross Shelter by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.