Disaster after Oregon man, 86, set off on bucket list solo sailing trip to Samoa with his one-eyed dog while ignoring friends’ warnings that voyage was bad idea

Eighty-six-year-old Harry Blodgett and his one-eyed dog, Sasha, were rescued by the US Coast Guard after their sailboat was found adrift off California. Blodgett had set out alone from Oregon for American Samoa, despite friends’ concerns, on what he described as the final item on his bucket list.

Blodgett left Astoria on 20 August aboard his 30-foot boat, the Willow Wind, for a voyage of about 5,000 nautical miles. After his neighbour reported him missing, an emergency beacon led rescuers to the boat roughly 460 miles from San Diego on 27 October; Blodgett was taken aboard a Coast Guard vessel the following day, weak and struggling to walk but without major injuries. The boat had damaged sails and was lost, while Blodgett said from hospital that he still hoped to reach Pago Pago.