American sailor in fine shape, arrives in Chilean city after three days adrift

Saturday, January 6th 2007, 4:01 pm

By: News On 6

PUNTA ARENAS, Chile (AP) _ An American whose round-the-world journey was frustrated by a yacht-destroying storm reached land on Sunday, saying he did not regret attempting to sail solo nonstop around the globe.

Looking relaxed and calm in a cloth jacket and jeans, Ken Barnes said he spent little time thinking about his situation when a storm left him adrift for three days more than 500 miles west of the southern tip of the Chilean coast.

``I was kind of busy,'' he said.

Barnes, who told reporters he was ``doing very well,'' was brought to Punta Arenas by aircraft after he was rescued Friday by the fishing trawler Pesca Polar 1, backed by Chilean navy aircraft.

He said his immediate plan is to fly back home ``and see my family.''

The 47-year old from Newport Beach, Calif., told reporters in Chile's southernmost city that he did not regret trying to become the first solo sailor to circumnavigate the world nonstop from the U.S. West Coast.

But he said that if one of his daughters thought of doing the same thing, he'd tell her, ``It wouldn't be a good idea.''

He said he was recovering well from a wound suffered when the storm flipped his 44-foot ketch, Privateer.

Still, Chilean navy Capt. Ivan Valenzuela, who was with Barnes at his news conference at the local airport, said he would be taken to a local military hospital for a thorough checkup.

U.S. Embassy officials were to arrange details for Barnes' trip back to California, possibly as early as Monday.

Barnes said things happened very fast when the storm struck on Tuesday, making the ketch ``roll 360 degrees.''

He said he quickly lost his steering wheel and power generators. The boat's two masts were broken. Water entered the yacht through two holes he could not close.

In a situation like that, he said, all he could do ``was to face it and handle it. You are reacting and doing what you have to do.''

Barnes reported his emergency Tuesday to his fiancee Cathy Chambers in California with his still-working satellite phone and sent a distress signal that was picked by the U.S. Coast Guard, which contacted the Chilean navy.