No decision on continued search for kayaker

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Coast Guard will decide today whether to continue searching for a man who reported he was in trouble in a kayak west of the Big Island.

A Coast Guard C-130, HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a Navy P-3 Orion aircraft searched all day yesterday and early this morning. The search concentrated on an area 50 miles west of the Big Island and had spanned more than 4,500 square miles yesterday.

The man called the Hawai'i Fire Department at 12:24 p.m. Sunday and said he was in a red kayak about 10 miles off Mahukona Harbor. Fire officials said the man, who identified himself as John Stockton, used his cellular phone and said his sails were down and he was taking on water.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Lauren Smith said it was uncertain whether the man was talking about a boat or his kayak. She said it was windy when he called and the phone connection was bad.

"(Fire officials) said he sounded panicky and that he was in a red kayak, wearing a yellow T-shirt, and whatever vessel he was in was taking on water," Smith said.

At about 7 p.m. Sunday, the man called the Coast Guard and said a C-130 aircraft had flown over him.

Smith said the crew was unable to find the man.

She said the Coast Guard had not received reports of missing boaters or kayakers.

The area code of the man's cellular phone number was in Arizona, and authorities were trying to track down family members, Smith said.

Rescue crews with night-vision goggles searched last night for any sign of the man. Smith said the rescue effort was difficult because the Coast Guard did not have much information.

"When somebody is from here, their family members will call and say, 'He said he was going to go surfing or kayaking off Kailua' and give us a starting point," Smith said. "A case like this is challenging because you really don't have a whole lot to go on."