Sailor rescued after days adrift

PUNTA ARENAS, Chile -- An American sailor who spent three days adrift after a storm dashed his round-the-world voyage was headed toward land yesterday after being rescued in treacherous waters off the southern tip of South America.

"I'm OK," Ken Barnes told loved ones by satellite telephone.

The Chilean Navy said Barnes, 47, was being taken by a fishing vessel to a lighthouse in the Straits of Magellan, where a helicopter would fly him to Punta Arenas, Chile's southernmost city. He is expected to arrive in Punta Arenas tomorrow.

"He is in good general condition, but the first thing upon his arrival will be a complete checkup at a hospital," said navy Captain Ivan Valenzuela, maritime governor of Punta Arenas.

Barnes's only injury was a long gash in his right thigh, but Valenzuela said the wound had been treated and covered.

His yacht was heavily damaged by a storm with strong winds and 40-foot waves that thwarted Barnes's attempt to become the first American to circumnavigate the world in a solo, nonstop voyage from the West Coast. He left California on Oct. 28.

After his rescue, Barnes spoke briefly to relatives gathered at his condo in Newport Beach, Calif. "I love you. I'm on the fishing boat headed for Punta Arenas, and I'm OK," he said in a calm voice.

His mother, 21-year-old twin daughters, and longtime girlfriend huddled around the phone, trying to make out his words over a broken connection that lasted less than two minutes.

The Polar Pesca 1 fishing vessel picked up Barnes shortly before 8 a.m., the navy's Operations Department said in Punta Arenas.