Body of Solo Sailor Diplomat Found

by Tom Stuckey, AP/Sail-World on 20 Jun 2006 In a sad lesson for solo sailors, the body of publisher and former diplomat Philip Merrill was found Monday, more than a week after he apparently fell overboard while sailing alone on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland USA.

A boater spotted the submerged body near where Merrill's boat was found adrift June 10, said Col. Mark Chaney, superintendent of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources police.

Merrill was wearing a shirt bearing the name of his boat, the Merrilly, and identified by a deputy state medical examiner, Chaney said. He was found without a life jacket.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to establish the cause of death.

Merrill's boat was discovered about 25 miles south of Annapolis, more than a dozen miles off course. Coast Guard officials said they believed he fell overboard, noting that the vessel's engine was running and Merrill's wallet was on board.

Merrill, 72, was the publisher of The (Annapolis) Capital newspaper, Washingtonian magazine and five other Maryland newspapers. The journalism school at the University of Maryland was named for him. He held several high-ranking government posts, including a stint from 1990 to 1992 as NATO's assistant secretary-general.