Smart and lucky
 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska —

A Coast Guard helicopter has rescued a pair of men adrift for more
than two days in an open 15-foot skiff off Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

Coast Guard officials say the two-man crew of the Larissa M, a 50-foot
fishing boat, were using the skiff on Friday to pick up a four-man
survey crew on remote Amatignak (a-mah-TIG-nak) Island. The skiff's
motor hit a rock and became disabled.

Skipper Rod Whitehead says he and crewman Bill Osterback struggled to
row to open water to avoid 20-foot waves breaking on shore.

The survey crew built a makeshift raft and paddled to the Larissa M to
summon the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard reached the drifting skiff Sunday night.