Baltimore Sailor Still Missing Off Coast of Mexico as Boat Found: 'We're Not Giving Up Hope,' Says Wife

A capsized yacht believed to belong to a Maryland sailor, who had been missing for almost two weeks off the coast of Mexico, had been spotted by authorities.

The Baltimore Banner reported that a Mexican search plane found what may possibly be Donald Lawson’s 60-foot trimaran, Defiant, off the coast of Acapulco, the Mexican Navy announced Tuesday. Bad weather, however, is preventing rescue crews at the moment to reach the capsized boat. 

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel, said that a boat has been discovered and that officials are working to get images of the boat from Mexican authorities, the Banner added. 

An experienced sailor looking to shatter multiple world records, Lawson, of Baltimore, was planning on sailing from Acapulco to Central America’s west coast, via the Panama Canal and to Baltimore, according to his brother Quentin Lawson, NBC News reported. 

Donald embarked on his sailing journey from Acapulco on July 5. A storm four days later “knocked out one of the engines” on the Defiant, per Quentin.��

Jacqueline Lawson, the sailor’s wife, said that Donald experienced equipment issues at the start of the journey, per WBAL. The loss of both engine and backup wind turbine power led to the suggestion that he should turn back towards Mexico. 

The last communication with Donald was on July 13 where he was almost 200 nautical miles from Acapulco. After more than a week of not hearing from her husband, Jacqueline reached out to the Coast Guard. 

“I believe something happened at that moment,” Quentin said, per NBC News. "It doesn’t make sense to turn out of the wind into the wind when you’re on emergency route to turn back.”

In a statement shared Tuesday, Jacqueline said, as reported by the Banner: “We are not giving up hope and we are remaining hopeful of his return. He is an experienced sailor who is well-equipped to expertly handle these types of challenging weather conditions in the Pacific. We are continuing to pray that Donald will be found and will soon return home safely to his family, friends, and sailing supporters.”

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According to his website, Donald's goal was to become the first African American to sail solo nonstop around the world. In a 2011 interview with Bleacher Report, Donald, who taught sailing for the United States Navy at the U.S. Naval Academy, said his passion for the sport goes back to his childhood: “When I was about 6 years old, my mother made me go for a sailing trip with Living Classroom Foundation in Baltimore, MD. They allowed me to steer the boat and that got my passion going. Once I started, no one could stop my drive for sailing.”

In a June 27 Facebook post, Donald described his strategy for the voyage, writing: “The first thing you need before doing a passage is an understanding of the weather patterns in your area for the time of year you are sailing in that location.”

He added: “When it comes down to it, avoiding bad weather and no wind are my number one goals when heading offshore. 

“For my passage, we have our Automated Identification System (AIS), which tells boats around us who we are and tells us who they are," Donald said. “For rescue (🤞), we have an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) linked to satellites so local Coast Guards can find us. We also have a number of satellite phones onboard that provide our Global Positioning System (GPS) as well.”

PEOPLE reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard District 11 for comment on the search efforts.