Conference unifix::sailing

390.0. "Schizandra" by MAXWEL::HAYS (Phil Hays) Wed Aug 27 1986 11:26

Associated Press Wed 27-AUG-1986 02:15                           Boat Victims

   Two Dead After Being Pulled From Sea
   OAK BLUFFS, Mass. (AP) - A man and woman found floating in life
jackets off Martha's Vineyard were lifted from the ocean onto a
fishing vessel, but their lives were not saved, the Coast Guard said.
   Michael O'Grady of Wellesley was pronounced dead on arrival
ashore during the Tuesday rescue attempt. Diane Reeves of Newton was
pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. in the emergency room of Martha's
Vineyard Hospital here, according to Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg
Creedon.
   The cause of death was not immediately determined, but Coast
Guard Lt. Mark Hoesten said it most likely was exposure or
hypothermia.
   Autopsies on both victims were scheduled for today in the state
Medical Examiner's Office in Boston.
   Creedon said the couple had been aboard the 26-foot sailboat
Schizandra, a boat reported missing Monday that was the object of a
Coast Guard search.
   ``They were found between Martha's Vineyard and Cuttyhunk by the
fishing vessel Mary Holly at about 10:50 a.m., about five miles west
of Gay Head,'' Creedon said. ``A Coast Guard vessel from the
Menemsha station on Martha's Vineyard met the fishing boat and
brought them to the Vineyard.''
   ``The Schizandra departed Westport Saturday morning,'' he said.
``There was no indication of a problem until we received a call
yesterday from a friend who reported the woman had not shown up for
work.''
   He said Mary Jane Walsh of Belmont reported to the Coast Guard at
2 p.m. Monday that Ms. Reeves was missing.
   Creedon said the Coast Guard followed the routine of calling
various harbor masters and police in trying to locate the boat.
   ``The same woman called back this morning to say she believed the
boat was in the Cuttyhunk area. We sent a boat to search the area,
and the fishing boat found them at about the same time.''
   Creedon said the Coast Guard didn't believe the discovery was
related to two reported sailboat capsizings off Rhode Island and
Nantucket Monday.