Friends of a Molokai fisherman are scrapping plans for a memorial service now that he was rescued after going missing at sea for nearly two weeks.

Ron Ingraham, 67, radioed for help through a VHF channel about 8 a.m. Tuesday, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, which was about 14 miles away, reached him about an hour later, 64 miles south of Oahu.

"He was hungry, tired and a little bit weak," said Coast Guard Lt. Scott Carr. "I don’t think he had eaten in a little while."

Ingraham, who was also dehydrated, was recovering Tuesday aboard the Hawaii-based destroyer, the Coast Guard said.

Carr said Ingraham’s 25-foot sailboat, Malia, was intact, and rescuers were trying to repair its outboard motor to allow Ingraham to continue on his own to Molokai, where he lives on his boat in the harbor.

He said there wasn’t enough wind for Ingraham to sail back.

"Unbelievable," said Ingraham’s friend and commercial fisherman Dedric Manaba, who had tried to remain hopeful during the Coast Guard search touched off by a radioed call for help on Thanksgiving Day. "This is awesome."

Manaba said he was preparing fliers for a memorial service set to take place in the Kaunakakai Harbor slip where Ingraham docks his boat.

Friends described Ingraham as a longtime fisherman who often fishes off Lanai and sells his fish on the island.

"I can’t wait to talk to him," Manaba said. "I just want to hear what happened."

Carr said he didn’t know the specifics on how Ingraham survived 12 days at sea after his first mayday call. He said rescuers plan to debrief Ingraham.

Ingraham radioed for help at about 8 a.m. on Nov. 27, saying his boat was taking on water and in danger of sinking. He reported being 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona before his VHF radio communication cut off, prompting a Coast Guard search in severe weather.

A Coast Guard HC-130 airplane crew reached the place Ingraham reported to be in about an hour, but couldn’t find any sign of the sailboat.

The 87-foot Coast Guard cutter Ahi, which also launched the first day, was forced to turn around because of strong winds and rough seas.

The Coast Guard continued searching by air with the HC-130 airplane and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, while Navy crews assisted with a P-3 Orion aircraft.

The search was suspended Dec. 1 after the Coast Guard and Navy conducted 59 sorties and covered 12,000 square miles without finding any sign of Ingraham.

The five-day search cost the Coast Guard at least $486,600, according to asset operating rates. The Coast Guard provided the following breakdown: $4,959 an hour for 62 hours operating the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, $9,535 an hour for 18 hours flying the HC-130, and $1,252 an hour for six hours operating the cutter Ahi.

The cost of flying the P-3 Orion aircraft for 14 hours was not immediately available.

Carr said the standard rates are used to calculate the cost of hoax calls or for billing of non-rescue missions. He said the Coast Guard’s mission is to protect those in danger on the sea, and that the service’s operating budget includes the cost of rescue missions.

"At the end of the day, you have a mariner who was found alive and safe at sea," he said. "It’s a positive outcome."

Carr encouraged mariners to protect themselves by having onboard an emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, which sends out a constant signal when activated.