Petersburg Pilot -

ANCHORAGE (AP) — A Coast Guard helicopter Tuesday plucked a man from a 31-foot sailboat floating without power in the treacherous Gulf of Alaska.

Spokeswoman Sara Francis said Rory Williams used his Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon to signal he needed assistance. A helicopter launched from Sitka and hoisted him from the stricken vessel at about 2:20 p.m.

“It's fortunate that he had an EPIRB with him,” Francis said.

The Coast Guard listed the vessel's home port as Sitka, an island city of 9,000 about 95 miles southwest of Juneau. The vessel left April 1 from Valdez for Sitk...