Fishing boat beached off Waimanalo
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — Residents were surprised when they awoke yesterday morning to find a 59-foot fishing vessel stranded in the sand south of Waimanalo Beach Park.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
And after crews missed an opportunity yesterday afternoon to get the boat back out to sea, chances were it would still be there this morning.
The fishing boat Kay, which drifted to shore after striking a reef and damaging its rudder, was stranded yesterday just south of Waimanalo Beach Park. There were no reports of fuel spills or injuries to the vessel's six-person crew.
The Kay had struck the reef yesterday, damaging its rudder and leaving the boat at the mercy of tide and waves that brought it to shore around midnight, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Todd Offutt.
There were no reports of fuel spills or injuries to the six people on board, Offutt said.
Andrew Jamila Jr., a Waimanalo Neighborhood Board member, said at first he thought the boat was a beached whale and he and others were surprised to see it sitting on the shore. The crew seemed relaxed, he said, adding that they were just sitting on board smoking cigarettes.
Jamila said the crew reported having 14,000 pounds of 'ahi on board and were heading back to port.
"The captain said he thought he was heading for Diamond Head," Jamila said, adding that his main concern was for any environmental hazards.
Boat owner Young Fishing Inc. arranged to have an oil-removal contractor pump 2,900 gallons of diesel fuel off the boat before attempts were made to push the vessel back out to sea, Offutt said.
"The priority was to get the fuel off so that if something happened they could mitigate the threat of pollution," he said.
The fuel was removed by mid-afternoon and crews were working to get the boat back into the water. But they missed high tide, the best time to refloat the boat.
The steel vessel is lighter and floating higher since the fuel was unloaded, but the tide was receding yesterday evening and a new high wasn't expected until 2 a.m. last night, Offutt said, speculating that crews would have to wait until high tide at about 2 p.m. today to get the boat into the water.
He said there was no rush to remove the vessel and that the owner wants to save the boat.
"You don't want to tear the vessel apart and have another issue out there," Offutt said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
