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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 6:54 a.m., Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Search for missing kayaker off Lanai continues

Advertiser Staff

The U.S. Coast Guard is continuing its search this morning for a kayaker who was last seen leaving Lana'i's Kaumalapau Harbor on Sunday morning.

At 3:45 a.m., a Coast Guard official said the kayaker hadn't been found and the search was continuing. A Coast Guard helicopter yesterday found the missing man's kayaking companion, who was located at about 11 a.m. about 25 miles from the harbor. He was reported to be in good condition with slight hypothermia, and was released to a family member, officials said yesterday.

The Coast Guard also located an unoccupied kayak about two miles south of where the first kayaker was spotted yesterday, but there was no sign of the missing man, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Clayton. Conditions were rough, with wind gusts close to 40 knots and seas of 6 feet to 8 feet, he said.

The names of the two kayakers have not been released but officials said they are believed to be construction workers on Lana'i. They reportedly set out from the harbor Sunday morning on 12-foot-long, blue motorized kayaks and were reported overdue that night.

Two Coast Guard helicopters and a C-130 search plane from Air Station Barbers Point and the cutter Kittiwake, an 87-foot patrol boat, have been searching for the missing kayaker throughout the early morning.