THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070294
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Two stranded campers on an island off Virginia's Eastern Shore were feeling a bit testy Monday after one used his cellular telephone to call the Coast Guard - via his family in Maine.
``It ruined my whole trip,'' said Harold L. Wilcher, who said his partner panicked. ``We could have gotten off by ourselves today, or Tuesday. Things just got out of hand.''
Coast Guard crewmen from Parramore Beach found the men Sunday afternoon on deserted Hog Island, about six to eight miles from the mainland, and got them ashore by 4:45 p.m.
Wilcher, 38, said he and his friend, John Acker, 34, of Maine, were prepared for a long stay on the barrier islands and had been there since Thursday. They had packed food, metal detectors, heavy down sleeping bags and other gear for the cold weather.
Their only problem, said Wilcher, of Suffolk, was that they ran low on water.
``The first night, like a fool, I tied an anchor to the transom of the boat in an effort to be overly cautious,'' he said.
High winds apparently swamped the 14-foot johnboat. The men saved the boat, the motor and fuel, but lost about 4 gallons of drinking water.
They replaced some of the water the next night with rain runoff from an abandoned Coast Guard station.
``I was prepared to stick it out until the wind quit blowing, so we could get off there,'' Wilcher said, but Acker - who couldn't be reached for comment Monday - apparently had other ideas.
``He had been calling his mom the whole time with his cellular phone,'' Wilcher said.
Coast Guard officials in Boston said Acker's family contacted them, indicating the campers were in trouble.
The Coast Guard relayed the call to the Coast Guard's 5th District Headquarters in Portsmouth about 11 a.m. Sunday. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission also was contacted and put a plane in the air.
``The VMRC was out there buzzing us with a plane, trying to throw messages at us,'' Wilcher said. ``I didn't know what he was doing. I saw his arm come out of the window, like he was waving. So I waved back.''
Some time later, while Wilcher was using his metal detector on the south end of the beach, he saw the Coast Guard's patrol boat.
``I figured that since we were the only ones out there, they were looking for us,'' he said.
Coast Guard spokesman Al Bennett said that while the Coast Guard can charge for its services, it does not plan to do so in this case.
``We don't charge for rescues,'' he said. ``It's not our place to determine if someone feels his life is threatened.''
Wilcher was making plans to retrieve his boat this week.
He also now realizes that overnight camping is not allowed on some barrier islands, such as Hog Island. The island is owned by the private Nature Conservancy. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF Map
KEYWORDS: COAST GUARD RESCUE CAMPERS by CNB