Captain rescued after surviving Hurricane Milton inside cooler: boat owner

Steven Hawley, owner of the now sunken “Capt. Dave,” shares the story of how the boat’s captain survived before being rescued by the Coast Guard after Hurricane Milton.
The captain rescued from the water after surviving Hurricane Milton was inside a cooler prior to being rescued by the Coast Guard, Steven Hawley, owner of the now-sunken boat, the Capt. Dave, told Fox News Digital during an October interview.
“That’s the only reason he didn’t get eaten by sharks or freeze,” Hawley said.
The Coast Guard rescued the captain on Thursday Oct. 10 following Hurricane Milton, a storm that made landfall in Florida.
FLORIDA RESIDENTS BEGIN PICKING UP THE PIECES FROM HURRICANE MILTON
A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man clinging to a cooler nearly 30 miles off the coast of Longboat Key, Florida on Thursday. (U.S. Coast Guard Southeast)
Video footage shows the captain apparently floating on the cooler, as someone dangling from a helicopter draws near to make the rescue.
But that was actually the second time in a matter of days the captain had been rescued by the Coast Guard. 
The captain and a deckhand had been rescued earlier in the week after the boat became stranded, Hawley indicated.
COAST GUARD VIDEO SHOWS HELICOPTER CREW RESCUE MAN FLOATING ON A COOLER 30 MILES OFF FLORIDA COAST AFTER STORM
But after that first rescue, the captain returned to the boat, and ultimately ended up in a perilous situation, which he survived.
The captain is “alive” and “well,” Hawley said. 
But “that boat is never gonna be seen again,” he remarked. 
2 BOATERS MISSING AFTER SAILING TO AVOID HURRICANE MILTON: COAST GUARD
This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 12:15 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.  (NOAA via AP)
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“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg’s command center chief, Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady said, according to a Coast Guard press release. 
“To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight. He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler,” Grady said.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.