JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Tuesday, Bruno May and a friend volunteered their time to search for missing firefighters Brian McCluney and Justin Walker.
May tells Action News Jax the ocean can be disorienting, even for experienced boaters like himself.
"I mean a dolphin fin would pop up, we'd think it's a hand," he said. "You start you start seeing things out there. Your mind starts playing tricks out there."
May tells Action News Jax he filled his 22-foot Sail Fish with fuel, and brought an extra 40 gallons to cover about 320 nautical miles.
- Dozens of firefighters help search for two men who went missing while fishing
- "This is a bread crumb they threw overboard": Missing firefighter's tackle bag found by boater
- Photos: Local firefighters to continue search for two missing boaters
- 'We're not giving up until these guys are found:' Search to continue for missing firefighters
- Missing boater's wife helps search by air as rescue efforts continue off Florida coast
- Missing firefighters: 180 volunteers searching off Jacksonville's coast
- Discovery of missing firefighter's tackle-bag helps steer search
- Volunteers in Georgia join efforts to find firefighters lost at sea as search expands
- Wife of missing Jacksonville firefighter joins search for husband, friend
- Volunteers in Georgia join efforts to find firefighters lost at sea as search expands
- How to help in the search for missing firefighters lost at sea off Florida Coast
"I used everything but three gallons left in my tank," he said.
May and his friend did find debris. Today the Coast Guard said they could not confirm if that debris was related at all.
Not near a TV? Click here to watch Action News Jax newscasts live for the latest on this story
May says he's been stuck on the ocean before. In speaking from experience, he encourages others to volunteer in the search to bring them home.
"If I was lost out at sea, I would definitely wish, you know, anybody, strangers, anybody that has the boat, anybody that has the means to get out there, get out there and look for them," he said.
FOR THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THIS STORY: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories
May tells us his boat's propeller stopped working once while he was offshore, leaving him on the ocean for about 12 hours afterwards.
He says he was able to call for help using a personal GPS tracker, and encourages other boaters to have the same device.
#NEW: This is the boat a Georgia man took out to volunteer in the search for missing firefighters Brian McCluney and Justin Walker. He tells me he brought 40 gallons of extra fuel and covered about 320 nautical miles. He returned with just three gallons left. #bringthemhome pic.twitter.com/f0XXAs4CqT
— Ryan Nelson (@RyanANJax) August 21, 2019
Cox Media Group
