Here is a hypothetical question:

If somebody on a sailboat did NOT want to be found and had a 36 hour
head start leaving someplace like say the N. Florida Gulf coast, how
difficult would it be to find him. I assume the sailor not wanting to
be found could take some measures such as painting his boat a grey
color to match the water or even paint his sails, not use lights at
night, etc. What else can you think of to minimize his chances of
being found.
How difficult would it be in this case for conventional SAR to find
him? Remember, every 36 hours, the necesary search area quadruples
until after a few days it covers the entire Gulf of Mexico and its
shoreline.
I think it might be possible for such a sailor to elude being found for
a long time.