Man Found Drifting in Open Sea Was Trying to Get Home

Imagine a scene right out of the Life of Pi. The Belize Coast Guard recently rescued fifty-seven-year-old Carlos Pinto, who was adrift in the open sea. But here’s the twist—Pinto wasn’t in a lifeboat. Instead, he was floating on a makeshift raft, surrounded by buckets and bags filled with food and his personal belongings. This wasn’t some accidental mishap either. Pinto, a security guard on an island, had no other way to get home to Belize City. So, he set off on his improvised raft, determined to make the journey. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the full story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Fifty-seven-year-old Carlos Pinto seemed to be in his own world of peace and quiet, drifting on a makeshift raft in the open sea when the Coast Guard patrol spotted him. With a hat and shades to shield himself from the sun, Pinto had two buckets, and two bags packed with food rations and his personal belongings. The Coast Guard was responding to a call from the port authority after a passerby saw Pinto from afar. Within just twenty-five minutes of that call, they found him.

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“This was in the Blue Field Area, some seventeen miles south of Belize City, which we found very strange. Fortunately, we had a patrol in the area which deployed from Southern Light Caye. The patrol went into that area and found the gentleman that was drifting, and we brought him in towards Belize City. Our medics here at the headquarters checked him out did some vitals, we found him to be in fairly good health. His pressure was a bit high. We had difficulty identifying who the individual was.”

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett mentioned that Pinto seemed quite disoriented while being questioned. The Belize Coast Guard turned to Facebook for help, and it worked—Pinto’s family recognized him from the post. We caught up with his daughter, who shared that the family had been searching for him for three weeks. They eventually found out he was working as a security guard on an island. Without a cellphone, staying in touch was tough.

 

Voice of: Daughter of Carlos Pinto

“I know that the young man he was working for that employed him, he gave me a call right away and he said to me, he was working out there with him and he don’t know how he end up like that, because he was going to return to the island today. He had everything out there and goes out there every three to four days. So I guess at that point my dad was just tired of being out there so he decided to pack up his things and came home with that. I guess he was tired of waiting on the boss to bring him in and he just decided to pick himself up and left. But that is like any person if you are out and say ok by any means I will get home, that was his decision in doing what he did.”

 

Pinto’s daughter shared that her father was fed up with island life and just wanted to come home. Without a boat, he gathered all his belongings, hopped on a makeshift raft, and started drifting towards the coast. It’s hard to say exactly how long he was at sea or how far he drifted, but he was definitely far from home, lost in the open waters.

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett

“We find it to be a very strange case. We have never found it where one person is drifting out at sea like that. We are very happy that we were able to locate him and rescue him before night set in. we don’t know what would have been the unfortunate situation that he would have encountered through the night, out there by himself drifting around. We were just happy that we were able to find him. He seemed quite contented on that raft little raft that he was onboard drifting out at sea.”

 

Pinto’s daughter assured us that he’s mentally sharp. When he was found, he was severely dehydrated and had high blood pressure. Despite these health concerns, his family is incredibly thankful that he was rescued and is now recuperating at home.

 

Voice of: Daughter of Carlos Pinto

“I was amazed, because how my dad was on that and nothing happened to him at the time. That is something small and he had two buckets and bags and with the wind and sea rough sometimes, who it never knock him off. It could have been worst. I am most appreciative of the coast guard because they never said, I heard he was giving a little bit of trouble to get assisted. But they worked with him and tried to bring him in at the moment. So I am very much appreciative.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.