Coast Guard Issues Alert For Missing Boat

An alert has been issued for a 44-foot sailboat that was last seen more than a month ago in Hawaii and was believed to be heading for Port Townsend, Wash.

The wife and a friend of Robert Philips, one of the three men aboard the Dream Weaver, reported the vessel overdue Saturday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Brenda Toledo said.

Messages are being broadcast over Coast Guard radio asking aircraft and ship crews to be on the lookout for the steel-hulled ketch, she said.

As of Sunday afternoon, there had been a few unsubstantiated reports but no confirmed sightings of the Dream Weaver, which carried a life raft, dinghy and emergency position indication radio beacon, she said.

Toledo gave the following account:

Ron Raty of Seattle found and bought the vessel in Samoa and hired Phillips, Ronald Drewlow and Richard Anderson to sail it from Hawaii to Port Townsend.

Several times, the crew set sail, only to return to Hawaii because of mechanical problems with the ketch’s inboard engine.

In March, the vessel was towed back to shore with the crew aboard after the engine had overheated.

The Dream Weaver was last seen in Hawaii on May 17.