Posted on: Monday, May 5, 2003

Fishing boat rescues four off Makapu'u

Advertiser Staff

A private sport fishing vessel off Makapu'u on Saturday rescued four swimmers after they were reported missing to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A woman and three men were trying to swim from Sandy Beach to the Makapu'u Lighthouse, where a boat was scheduled to meet them, a Coast Guard official said.

When the swimmers didn't show up, the boat party notified the Coast Guard, which launched a helicopter to search for the swimmers.

The helicopter found the group in rough waters, "huddled and waving," the official said. Two men in a nearby sport fishing vessel who were in radio contact with the helicopter picked up the swimmers.

The swimmers were in the water from about 6:30 a.m. until 11:05 a.m. None of the swimmers was injured.

An earlier report had said that a Coast Guard vessel rescued the swimmers but that was not the case.