Jimmy makes cameo during search for New York fisherman

[indymiller24]

Here's an interesting tidbit in an otherwise fantastic story in the New York Times Magazine about John Aldridge, a New York fisherman who fell in the Atlantic last July without survival gear while his coworkers slept and the boat continued moving.

It turns out Jimmy was nearby aboard the Last Mango:

Most of the fishermen who heard the news had the same immediate response, wherever they were: They wanted to help with the search.

Richard Etzel, the captain of a Montauk charter boat, had taken a group of customers out at dawn that morning to fish for striped bass. When he heard the news over the radio, he took his customers back in, fueled up and headed south. At the Montauk Marine Basin, a mechanic borrowed a customer’s center-console boat — without actually mentioning it to the customer — and took off toward the fishing grounds. Jimmy Buffett, the singer, who has a summer house in Montauk, had that morning hired Paul Stern, one of the best big-tuna fishermen on the East Coast, to take him out in Buffett’s boat, the Last Mango. When Stern heard about Aldridge, he asked Buffett if they could join the search. Buffett agreed, and the Last Mango headed south as well.

In total, 21 commercial boats volunteered to look for Aldridge.

It's long, but read the whole story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magaz ... =1&_r=2&hp (Buffett's tidbit shows up on Page 5)