U.S. COAST GUARD / DISTRICT 14
A Coast Guard Station Maui 45-foot response boat-medium crew is shown with a boater they rescued,
after they arrived safely at Coast Guard Station Maui on Sunday.
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The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a 75-year-old man Sunday who had abandoned his sinking sailboat in waters 500 yards off Kahoolawe.
The Coast Guard dispatched a MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter and HC-130 Hercules aircraft from its Air Station Barbers Point after receiving a report from the man’s friend at 8:02 a.m. The friend said the man told her he was abandoning his sailboat because it was sinking.
“We always recommend waterway users err on the side of caution and tell someone when they think they are in danger. Something as simple as a phone call to a friend can make a world of difference,” said Lt. j.g. Brad McNell, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu command duty officer.
The search crews located the sailboat ashore on Kahoolawe at 11:01 a.m. They located the man in his dinghy at 11:31 a.m. after making contact with him by radio. A 45-foot response boat picked up the man and took him to the Coast Guard’s Maui Station. He was uninjured.
McNell commended the man for having the recommended multiple forms of communication.
“The boater had abandoned his vessel into his dinghy and fortunately had a second radio aboard, allowing him to contact our assets once they arrived on scene and recover him quickly,” he said.
The man was sailing to the Big Island from Lanai when the vessel started taking on water. The weather at the time of rescue was 8 mph winds and seas up to 1 foot.
The Coast Guard said pollution responders are investigating the sailboat’s grounding.