PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE — Aboard a Chilean fishing trawler 500 miles offshore, rescued Newport Beach sailor Ken Barnes began recounting over a scratchy radio connection his harrowing three days alone near Cape Horn on his disabled 44-foot ketch.
"I really haven't had a chance to put this whole experience in perspective," Barnes said from aboard the Polar Pesca I, a 200-foot boat carrying a 35-member crew. "I'm just taking one step at a time. I knew the risks.
"I'm feeling fine," he added. "It's always nice to see that the sailing and ocean community is one. They saved my life."
Rescued sailor: Articles about sailor Ken Barnes in the California sections of Jan. 6 and Jan. 8 said the city of Punta Arenas, Chile, is the southernmost in the world. It is the world's southernmost large city. Also, the Jan. 6 story said it is about 3,000 miles from Santiago; it actually is about 1,340 miles from the Chilean capital.
Barnes spoke with The Times over a radio connection at the office of Ivan Valenzuela Bosne, a captain in the Chilean navy and maritime governor who coordinated the rescue effort.
Barnes said he scuttled his boat, the Privateer, so it would not present a hazard to other vessels.
"The boat is about 3,000 feet underwater," Barnes said. "I already put a quarter-million dollars into it and it would have taken a million dollars to recover it" -- an estimate confirmed by search and rescue officials in the Chilean navy.
Barnes, who left Long Beach Harbor in October, was attempting a solo, nonstop voyage around the world, which he believed would be a first for a West Coast sailor.
Earlier Friday, Barnes discussed his ordeal with local reporters in Punta Arenas.
"I knew what I was coming into when I came down here," Barnes said. "Anyone who sails these waters knows the risks that they are taking. When they come down here and take the risks, well, it's going to go one way or the other.
"In my case, it kind of went halfway. I lost the boat, but my life has been preserved. And I'll take that."
Barnes is scheduled to arrive Sunday in Punta Arenas, a city of 120,000 on the shore of the Strait of Magellan. Advertised as the southernmost city in the world, it draws travelers from around the world to visit nearby Tierra del Fuego and the wilderness of Patagonia. From Punta Arenas, it's expected to take Barnes two or three days to travel back to Southern California.
During the rescue, which took place at 6:48 a.m. local time (1:48 a.m. PST), photos taken from a military aircraft showed Barnes wearing yellow foul-weather gear and waving at rescuers from the helm of his boat.
Two broken masts lay in front of him, with torn sails hanging over the bow. Four rescuers in an inflatable boat launched from the trawler pulled alongside the Privateer and helped Barnes, 47, on board.
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