2 fishermen safe on shore after boat sinks off Maui
Two men are safe on shore after their fishing boat sank about a mile off Pauwela on Maui’s north shore Thursday night, a Maui County Fire Department spokesman said.
Their 21-foot boat, the Hailey Kai, sank at about 11:30 p.m. The boat’s captain, identified as 31-year-old Kyle Ponichtera, swam to shore at about 3:40 a.m. and called for help from a home on Nahele Road in Haiku, said Fire Department spokesman Lee Mainaga.
He told officials that another man on the boat, a 17-year-old from Wailuku, was still missing. The Maui Fire Department helicopter and rescue boat, and a 45-foot Coast Guard response boat from Coast Guard Station Maui began searching for the missing fisherman.
The teenager finally made it to shore and was located at about 6:30 a.m., Mainaga said. He did not need medical attention.