Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The Coast Guard has ended its active search for a 65-year-old Connecticut man who fell out of his sailboat Monday near the northern entrance to the Sakonnet River.

This morning, a Coast Guard helicopter flew over the search area looking for Bernard Mochan, of Clinton, Conn.

Mochan had been sailing with his wife on the 32-foot Elizabeth sailboat Monday when the vessel’s boom hit him on the head. He wasn't wearing a flotation device, and fell overboard.

That evening, searchers found a hat that Mochan’s wife said belonged to her husband in the water about a tenth of a mile west of Tiverton. The Coast Guard has been searching for him since but with no further signs.

"Ending a search is a very difficult decision,” Capt. Raymond Perry, commander of Sector Southeastern New England, said today in a statement. “But we think it is highly unlikely that someone could survive more than 40 hours in the water without a lifejacket on.”

“We express our deepest condolences to Mr. Mochan's family and friends."

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.