A sailor lost at sea for nine days following a storm has described the moment he was forced to use mirrors to catch the attention of passing ship when his flare failed. .The Chattanooga, Tennessee native had been making his way from Osaka, Japan to the islands with two other crew, a fellow U.S. national and one Japanese national, when a storm dismantled their mast on board vessel Coco Haz III. He told KITV4 of the moment they released their flare: 'The water was coming up, up, up, waist-high and we’re still upside down. And then it didn’t see us. It just kept on going, we were thinking, "Oh God, this is terrible".'Scroll down for video When another boat passed them days later Brown and the two other men used mirrors to catch its attention. When they were finally spotted Brown says they broke down in tears, adding: 'I was crying, all of us. We were just crying on the boat.' 656 miles west southwest of the Hawaiian Islands on December 29. . Share this article Share KITV Privacy Policy Lt. Diane French, command duty officer, Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said in a statement: 'We appreciate the support of the good Samaritans aboard the commercial vessels Nobility and Kalamazoo who made this rescue possible.'This was a difficult case given the remote area of the search and a lack of communications with the crew. 'This case is a big win for the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System, which the Kalamazoo subscribes to, the Safety NET message system, and the mariners out there willing to help each other.' Crews aboard a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules and a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon airplanes had been carrying out searches in the days before the rescue.The Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) also helped from Honolulu.Lt. Diane French added: 'We appreciate the support of the Navy Poseidon aircrews who were more than willing to fly and assist us during the holiday season.'While the sailing vessel crew had supplies for the voyage they did not have an electronic position indicating radio beacon. Such a device would have provided their location rapidly and accurately, significantly shortening the search. We recommend anyone undertaking voyages offshore take an EPIRB.' Brown added: 'It turns out, as soon as we got onto social media we saw that everybody had found out pretty quickly that we were missing.'Any time I would look at these messages, I would cry, or just start looking through just the people who were telling stories about me, and a lot of love.'A lot of love was going around, and a lot of prayer and a lot of faith. For me to hug my wife and my son again was just amazing. I definitely will have a new appreciation for my family and my friends.' Man lost at sea rescued after using MIRRORS to catch ship's attention dailymail,news,Japan
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