Coast Guard audio captures stranded family’s mayday call. ‘Our ship burned while we were sleeping’
Oct 23, 2025, 1:01 PM | Updated: 1:40 pm
Three family members who swam to a private island when their boat caught fire and sank were rescued two days later after their marine radio washed ashore.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday! Our ship went down in Tarpaulin’s Cove!” Tyler Sullivan told a Coast Guard dispatcher early Wednesday morning. “Our ship burned while we were sleeping, and we barely escaped!”
Sullivan and his parents left Falmouth on Friday and had planned to return Tuesday after spending the weekend anchored close to Naushon Island, the largest of a chain of islands between southeastern Massachusetts and Martha’s Vineyard. A relative contacted authorities Tuesday night, prompting a multiagency search that included Falmouth police and the Falmouth Harbormaster.
In audio provided by Broadcastify.com, a Coast Guard dispatcher asks Sullivan about his parents’ medical conditions and asks about their ability to move around or sit up. In mayday recordings released by the Coast Guard, he described their location and what happened to the boat.
“The vessel has sunk, and we are in the farmhouse,” Sullivan said.
Soon after, the family was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter and flown to an area hospital. Sullivan’s brother, Christopher, told WCVB-TV that his mother was in critical but stable condition.
“Quick thinking and having quality equipment allowed the family to survive and call for help,” Scott Backholm, a search and rescue mission coordinator from Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England said in a statement.
Naushon Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands, is owned by the Forbes family but has several coves that are open to the public, according to a company that offers tourist excursions to the islands.
