The Coast Guard on Monday expanded the search for a 36-year-old man who went missing while kayaking off the coast of eastern Nantucket a day earlier.
Although authorities have not released his name, they say that he was reported missing around 4:30 p.m. Sunday about 1 1/2 miles off the village of Wauwinet.
A 47-foot motor lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Brant Point responding to an emergency call of a kayaker in distress found the kayak there on Sunday.
Coast Guard spokesman Public Affairs Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Hupp told Navy Times that the crew recovered an intact kayak that “had not capsized.”
A cooler that belonged to the missing man — described as an experienced kayaker and yearlong resident of the island— was found away from his craft but officials believe he was wearing a life jacket, Hupp added.
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The Coast Guard scrambled an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry medium-range reconnaissance plane from Air Station Cape Cod to search the waves on Sunday.
They were joined that evening by the cutters Steelhead and Coho.
The Brant Point motor lifeboat resumed the search at first light on Monday and the cutter Tybee sailed from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to expand the hunt.
Hupp stressed the importance of all paddle craft operators wearing life jackets.
