More than a hundred miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, a miracle.

If you’ve paid attention to news stories involving the United States Coast Guard over the years, there are a few things you’ve probably gleaned. For one, they are lifesavers of the highest order. And two, sadly, very often they encounter boaters and Americans about sea when it’s too late — when they’ve been bested by mighty Poseidon and there’s simply nothing that can be done. After all, we’re talking about the Atlantic and Pacific oceans here and, well, all you have to do is look at a map to see how vast they are. Spend more than five minute in or on them and you’ll discover how unforgiving.

This setup is crucial to the following story we’re about to spill.

This good fortune rarely happens — especially after a week’s time. At this point the USCG is trying to recover bodies, not living, breathing people. Sadly, it’s usually too much to ask.

This from ABC News:

A boater who was found alive on an inflatable life raft off the coast of Massachusetts after being missing for a week was also the object of a massive search when he was a teenager.

Nathan Carman was found Sunday by a freighter on the Atlantic Ocean about 100 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. His mother, Linda Carman, of Middletown, Connecticut, is still missing.

Nathan Carman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, went missing in 2011 after he became distraught over the death of his horse. After a widespread search, the then 17-year-old was found in Virginia.

The Hartford Courant reports that the Carman family was also struck by tragedy in 2013 when Linda Carman’s father was shot to death in his home. No arrest has been made.

The mother-son duo disappeared on September 18 after shoving off from a marina in Rhode Island on a 30-foot vessel named the “Chicken Pox.”

At noon on Monday, the Coast Guard announced that the search for Linda Carman is no longer going on. They said its well beyond the window where she could still be found alive. According to them, there was no other life raft on the boat.

The search for the two was called off Friday, which makes the fact that they found Nathan more than two days later that much more miraculous.

Authorities report that Nathan Carman was found with no life-threatening injuries.

UPDATE: Since the incredible rescue, the Coast Guard has released the initial contact with Nathan Carman while he was still at sea …

And here he is speaking with reporters days after he found dry land, nine days later:

He’s currently being investigated in the accident.

This from the Boston Globe:

Police have previously said Carman ventured some 80 miles farther out to sea than his mother, Linda, had expected. They are investigating whether Carman had made repairs to his 31-foot vessel that potentially made it unsafe.

Stay tuned to the blog for more on this developing story.