Alert to Gulf Coast sailors

[Dirtboy]

Keep an eye out for this guy. I saw a picture of the boat on the news, it's a yawl.

Missing boy, father sighted at St. Petersburg marina - St. Petersburg Times

DB

[sailhog]

You have to assume that the guy's wife is a skanky drug addict and that he's a noble sailor whose just trying to pass down his vast knowledge of the sea and sailing to his son. The Bristol 32 is a nice boat.

[xsboats]

You have to assume that if he was a 'noble' sailor ,trying to pass things on to his son , that one of those things would be that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. A " skanky drug addict" would be easy to defeat in court for custody and it is hard to be a good dad from behind bars after pulling a stupid stunt like this. No one is going to win in this story, and the boy pays for the actions of both parents. The Bristol 32 was a nice boat until someone painted it battleship gray.

[AirbusDriver]

Wow...the marina next to mine. Not the right way to go about getting custody of your child. I hate to see children used as pawns. No one wins.
P.S. Dirtboy, I passed a car (mini cooper?) a while ago with a decal of your avatar guy on it in St Pete. Who is that bearded man?

[johnshasteen]

It's over!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Release Date:
Dec. 1, 2009

Contact:
U.S. Coast Guard
Petty Officer Rob Simpson
305-965-4672

Cocoa City Police Department
Officer Barbera Matthews
321-863-9487

FBI
Dave Couvertier
813-289-5627

Coast Guard rescues 3-year-old boy
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Crewmembers from the Coast Guard rescued Luke Finch aboard his father's 32-foot sailboat at approximately 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, approximately 140 miles southwest of Fort Myers Beach, Fla.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg were contacted early Sunday morning by Cocoa City Police Department officials, in Cocoa, Fla., requesting assistance in locating Paul Martikainen, 35, and his son, Finch. They reportedly departed Salt Creek Marina, in St. Petersburg, in a 32-foot grey Bristol sailboat at about 4 p.m. Saturday.

Crewmembers aboard a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., HC-130 Hercules aircraft spotted Paul Martikainen' s sailboat at about 5 p.m. Monday, while searching a 22,995-square mile area after Finch was reportedly kidnapped by Martikainen Saturday.

Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Crocodile and Coast Guard Cutter Kodiak Island boarded the sailboat at about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, safely rescued Finch, and took him onboard the Crocodile. Kodiak Island boarding team members detained Martikainen and are currently towing the sailboat to Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Fla., where he will be taken into FBI custody.

Finch is scheduled to arrive at Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Fla. between 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"We are incredibly happy that we were able to find and rescue Luke unharmed to reunite him with his family," said Capt. Timothy Close, Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg commander. "There were multiple agencies involved and the we were glad we were able to assist."

The Crocodile is an 87-foot cutter homeported in St. Petersburg.

The Kodiak Island is a 110-foot cutter homeported in Key West, Fla.

[smackdaddy]

Go Coasties! Great news.

(Note to self, never try to make a getaway in a sailboat...especially one that you've painted a special color.)

[eherlihy]

Originally Posted by AirbusDriver

P.S. Dirtboy, I passed a car (mini cooper?) a while ago with a decal of your avatar guy on it in St Pete. Who is that bearded man?

Mr Natural....

[Dirtboy]

Who is that bearded man?

Yep, Mr. Natural. I'm an old hippy for sure and was a big fan of the old underground comix. The comix were underground because you couldn't buy them in traditional stores (major distributers refused to sell them) they could only be found at head shops. I have about 50 of them but they are in well used condition.

The artist's, R. Crumb, best known work is the keep on truckin guy that's become an American icon. When he first published that image he didn't understand the copyright laws and he didn't copyright his work making it free to anyone. Bottom line, he never made any money from the widespread use of that image.

DB