Coast Guard towing disabled NJ boat, 6 aboard

[October 12, 2010]  CAPE MAY, N.J. (AP) -- Six boaters who have spent two extra days out to sea after their boat broke down were expected back on land in New Jersey on Tuesday evening.

The boaters were rescued by the Coast Guard about 120 miles out from Atlantic City on Monday evening, about 24 hours after a search began.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Tricia Eldredge said The Black Magic is expected in Atlantic City around 6 p.m. Tuesday. A morning arrival in Cape May was pushed back because the cutter towing the vessel had to slow down in rough seas.

The men appeared in good condition, the Coast Guard said.

It's not immediately clear what happened or why the men were unable to contact relatives or authorities.

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The men had left in the 32-foot boat Saturday on an overnight fishing trip for tuna and were supposed to return Sunday morning.

The search extended as far north as Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where authorities picked up a mayday signal from the men early Monday.

"Everyone is just so relieved," said Johanna Silcox, whose father-in-law, Edward Silcox of Langhorne, Pa., was among those rescued. "I don't know why, but we all just had a feeling he was going to be all right.

"In 1989, my father-in-law and my husband rescued five people from a boat that was on fire and sinking," she said. "I guess what goes around comes around."

The boat is owned by Geoffrey McDade, a diesel mechanic, and his 26-year-old son, James McDade, a machinist in the Navy who recently returned from a stint in Iraq. Both men were among those on board the Black Magic when it ran into trouble.

Others on board were Bernie Otremsky, of Haddon Township, and Jerry Lewis and Ray Somerville, whose hometowns were not immediately available.

[Associated Press; By GEOFF MULVIHILL]

Associated Press writers Wayne Parry in Forked River and Shawn Marsh in Trenton contributed.

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