Coast Guard returns lost sailor, boat to Honolulu

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Coast Guard Cutter Assateague towed an exhausted sailor and his malfunctioning boat to Honolulu Harbor yesterday after the man reported himself lost and stranded Saturday.

The man had been trying to cross the Kaua'i Channel in a recently purchased 30-foot-long sailboat, according to Lt. j.g. Diane Greentree, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

The boat developed problems Friday while the man was at sea. He discovered a water leak into his fuel tank and suffered a mast blow out.

The man struggled to maintain course overnight and contacted the Coast Guard Saturday morning using VHF-FM Channel 16, the distress frequency monitored by the Coast Guard. He was unable, however, to give his location.

A Coast Guard helicopter searched the channel while the man maintained radio communications with the Coast Guard. He was discovered about noon Saturday, halfway between O'ahu and Kaua'i.

The Assateague sailed out to meet him and towed him to a buoy outside Honolulu Harbor, where he was met by another boat that towed him into Ala Wai Harbor.