BOSTON (AP) – The Coast Guard rescued a sailor off the southern Maine coast as he tried to sail from Portland to Groton, Conn., in stormy seas.

Sixty-eight-year-old Michael Mavor made a radio distress call Thursday afternoon from his sailboat reporting that he was alone and that his vessel had torn sails and disabled engines. Seas were 6 feet, winds more than 20 miles per hour and there were thunderstorms in the area.

The Coast Guard launched a 47-foot rescue boat and a Falcon jet crew from Cape Cod, but when they got to his reported location there was no sign of Mavor’s 30-foot vessel. But his location was finally pinpointed based on his cell phone signal when Mavor was asked to dial 911.

The Coast Guard arrived after 5 p.m. and took the sailboat in tow. It was the third time in 36 hours Mavor needed assistance at sea.