Chile navy locates solo US sailor in South Pacific Chile navy locates solo US sailor in South Pacific - Americas 84-year-old American was making his seventh attempt to sail alone around Cape Horn SANTIAGO, Chile - An 84-year American making his seventh attempt to sail alone around the tip of South America was found tired but alive by the Chilean Navy on Wednesday after his mast broke far from land in the South Pacific. The Chilean Navy located Thomas Louis Corogin on his 27-foot sailboat more than 520 miles (850 kilometers) south of Easter Island, where the Port Clinton, Ohio, man had set sail on Dec. 27. Corogin activated his emergency beacon on Tuesday morning, prompting the Navy to send out an Orion rescue plane, which searched a vast expanse of ocean. The plane had to return to Easter Island and refuel before going out again and spotting the tiny boat, Captain Jorge Bastias, the Navy's top spokesman, told The Associated Press. The Navy then arranged for a Japanese merchant ship, the "White Kingdom," to rescue the sailor. The ship was about 250 nautical miles away when it joined the search and was expected to reach him Wednesday night, local time, Bastias said. Bastias said Corogin communicated that he was tired but otherwise OK. The area's weather Wednesday was relatively stable, with swells of about 15 feet (five meters).