BIDDEFORD — A Nantucket man was brought safely to shore Wednesday after electrical failure disabled his boat in an area near Biddeford Pool.

Saco Fire Department marine rescue and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a call around 7:40 p.m. of a 30- foot Gemini Catamaran that was experiencing electrical failure, said Saco Deputy Fire Chief David Pendleton.

The craft was located in an area off Hoyt Neck, a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean just south of Fortunes Rocks.

Rescue crews were able to bring the boat’s owner, Neal Cameron of Nantucket, Massachusetts, to safety at the Camp Ellis pier, where he was evaluated and it was determined he did not need medical assistance.

“I was nervous. It was dark. The seas really picked up quite a bit,” Cameron said Thursday. “It was the maiden voyage on the boat. It was scary, but it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t too, too bad.”

Cameron explained he had just purchased the boat in Maine and was attempt- ing to float it home to Nantucket.

“They came out, picked me up, brought me ashore and dropped me off at a local hotel, so I spent the night, got a nice hot shower, and I just looked at (the boat).”

The boat was anchored off Hoyt Heck, where it remained Thursday, because the sea was too rough to safely tow it to shore, Pendleton said.

“I didn’t realize how close I was to a nice sheltered harbor. Without GPS, I had no idea,” Cameron said.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a flare go off above the water in the area just before 9 p.m.

“I saw a flare floating from east to west about 100 to 200 yards off the shoreline,” Biddeford resident Mark Robinson, who lives near Fortunes Rocks, said Wednesday night. “I went outside and walked down to the water and didn’t see anything, and just double-checked.”

Robinson said he first saw a flare around 8:50 p.m., and was told by emergency personnel over the phone that the signal was fired by the Coast Guard to illuminate the area as the search for Cameron’s boat went on.

The Coast Guard did not return a request for comment by press time to verify it had launched the flare.

Although he may have hit a rough patch in his travels, Cameron said he’ll continue his journey home once his boat is repaired.

“It definitely hasn’t discouraged me from sailing,” he said. “But I am going to wait and keep a closer eye on the weather reports.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected]. Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf contributed to this report.