THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130535
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A New York sailor was rescued Wednesday afternoon after his boat capsized about 200 yards offshore in heavy seas that were hammering the Outer Banks.
His 25-foot sailboat overturned, ending a three-day trip through turbulent waters kicked up by brisk northeast winds.
The boat skippered by Wayne Alazraki, 35, of the Bronx, N.Y., capsized shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Personnel from Lifeguard Beach Services and Nags Head Ocean Rescue pulled Alazraki from the choppy waters.
A small craft advisory was in effect. Rande Banks, owner of The Fish Market Restaurant, said he saw Alazraki's red sloop - the Le'A - capsize after being slammed broadside by a wave.
``I pulled out on the beach to look at the water, and I saw the boat with his main and jib sails up,'' Banks said. ``He was struggling. I called the Coast Guard''
Lifeguard Beach Services, along with Nags Head Ocean Rescue, maintained visual contact from the beach until the boat overturned.
``I saw him a couple or three times lean out over the boat to, I think, get his outboard motor running,'' Banks said. ``I saw a wave hit him broadside.''
Alazraki was tossed out of the vessel, Banks said. ``Lifeguard Beach Services was right on it. He was wearing a PFD (Personal Flotation Device). He got within 100 yards of the beach and they pulled him out.''
Banks said the boat ``did a 360 (-degree) roll in the water, but it held up really well.''
Bob Gabriel, president of Lifeguard Beach Services, said Alazraki had been sailing in the strong northeast winds for about three days.
``The Coast Guard has been trying to contact him for three days,'' said Gabriel. ``He didn't respond. He tried to run up a main (sail), and, in winds like this, you don't do that.''
The boat was driven onto the beach by the surf, and Kill Devil Hills police took possession to inspect it. Alazraki was taken to a bank to get money and planned to return to New York.
Conditions at Cape Hatteras showed winds of about 25 mph, with 10-foot seas. Small craft and heavy surf advisories were in effect. As a high-pressure cell moves to the north and east, gale-force winds could hit the North Carolina coast by the weekend.
Banks, a veteran sailor, said sailing in such conditions Wednesday was ``absurd.''
``I'm a certified sailing instructor, but even I wouldn't get out in something like this,'' he said. ``A vessel of that size in seas like this has limited capabilities. I think he realized he was in the breakers, and was just trying to get control of the boat.'' ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON/Staff
RANDE BANKS
Two members of the Lifeguard Beach Services and Nags Head Ocean
Rescue, above, run along the beach at Kill Devil Hills Wednesday
during the rescue of Wayne Alazraki, 35, of the Bronx, N.Y.
Alazraki's head can be seen in the surf over the left shoulder of
the lead rescuer. At left, Dave Elder of Nags Head Ocean Rescue
secures Alazraki's 25-foot sailboat that capsized about 200 yards
offshore in heavy seas.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT by CNB