After three days and nights of searching, the Coast Guard on Monday evening suspended its effort to find a Kaua‘i fisherman who disappeared along O‘ahu’s North Shore. The air and sea search for Roy Takatsuki, 57, of Kauai, covered 12,000
After three days and nights of searching, the Coast Guard on Monday evening suspended its effort to find a Kaua‘i fisherman who disappeared along O‘ahu’s North Shore.
The air and sea search for Roy Takatsuki, 57, of Kauai, covered 12,000 square miles of ocean between the North Shore and the Garden Island, Coast Guard Petty Officer Brooksann Anderson said.
Takatsuki disappeared Friday after setting out alone aboard his 18-foot Boston Whaler to compete in the North Shore Hanapaa Jackpot fishing tournament.
Fisherman friends of Roy Takatsuki of Kapa‘a continued searching the sea for him yesterday.
Beverly C. “Bev” Pang, a community-response specialist with the County of Kaua‘i and Takatsuki’s girlfriend, said she has no idea how many fisherman friends from both Kaua‘i and O‘ahu are searching for Takatsuki.
They call her to tell her they’re going out looking for Takatsuki, she said.
Yesterday, a Coast Guard cutter, C-130 cargo plane and helicopter scoured a wide ocean area north and west of O‘ahu.
“Yes, we are praying for a miracle, and we’re asking that everyone else pray with us, too,” Pang said by telephone from Honolulu yesterday.
She said the support and prayers from Kaua‘i and O‘ahu friends of Takatsuki are all helping her in her time of distress, “and we appreciate that. Thank you to all who are praying and searching. I guess it helps us to keep the faith.”
Pang said Coast Guard officials would continue searching Monday, and at sunset would make a determination whether or not to continue the search today.
Pang and other friends and associates on Kaua‘i discussed Takatsuki’s propensity for giving back to the community, something Pang said gave him “true enjoyment. He could have been wealthy” had he decided not to give back to residents of the island community he grew to love, she said.
“If he could do it (help someone out), he would,” said Pang.
Takatsuki, 57, of Roy Takatsuki Construction, developed a reputation on the island as a dependable, high-quality contractor, and twice served as president of the Contractors Association of Kauai, in 1997 and 2003, said Karen Taketa, CAK executive director.
Taketa called Takatsuki a “very dedicated contractor, a very giving contractor. He would do anything for anyone, not just as a contractor but as a person,” said Taketa.
“He had this passion,” and a feeling that he had to give back especially to senior citizens on Kaua‘i, Taketa continued. When seniors or their children called to get estimates for retrofitting homes for elderly residents who had developed accessibility issues, Takatsuki “would do everything in his power to help them,” even to the point of accommodating people with limited incomes.
“That is very rare in a person,” Taketa said. He is “very giving, very generous.”
Mike Furukawa of Grove Farm Company got to know Takatsuki through their mutual volunteerism in the CAK, and said Takatsuki was “a dedicated member, hard worker, sincere. He put his money where his mouth is,” and was always one of the project leaders, always willing to give of his time and equipment.
Taketa said Takatsuki found another way of giving back when he volunteered to work with displaced sugar workers after Lihue Plantation and Kekaha Sugar Company closed a few years ago.
“He was really into helping people learn the trades, the (construction) profession. He found he really enjoyed teaching people new skills,” said Taketa.
Whether it was teaching former sugar workers marketable construction skills or teaching public-school custodians how to make minor repairs to upgrade their skills and save taxpayer money, he was into it, Taketa added.
John Isobe, interim director of the Kaua‘i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training, said without Takatsuki stepping forward and taking charge, the program for displaced sugar workers wouldn’t have flown.
In the chaotic days after two plantations closed, businesses that employed hundreds of workers across the island and shaped the very social fabric of Kaua‘i, Takatsuki volunteered to be the lead instructor for the former sugar workers, Isobe said.
“I always felt Roy was an excellent instructor because he truly cared about the people he taught,” and even hired some of the former sugar workers he trained who showed potential in carpentry, Isobe said.
Takatsuki “embodied” the spirit of “no child left behind,” and would work extra hours after class with both those who were excelling and those who needed fundamental tool-handling skills.
For Takatsuki, it was all about helping people learn, Isobe said. “I think the other thing that made Roy so special was his passion for imparting knowledge. He took time off from his contracting business because it was his desire to teach others.”
On Sunday night, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said the search would continue throughout the night, and she was “hopeful” that Takatsuki could still be found.
Also Sunday night, Coast Guard officials said an ocean area of around 6,000 square miles, or around 10 times the size of Kaua‘i, had been searched for Takatsuki, with no trace of him.
His 18-foot Boston Whaler, named “Beverly” for Pang, was found Saturday morning around 10 miles north of Kilauea, Kaua‘i, and was towed into ‘Anini Beach Park.
Coast Guard officials said evidence found on the boat indicates Takatsuki may have fallen overboard while fishing. Lines were in the water, and the boat was idling on cruise control when located Saturday.
Pang said Takatsuki rarely wore a life vest, and regularly went fishing alone. He left Kaua‘i last week bound for an annual fishing tournament on O‘ahu that he participated in for several years.
He was reported missing Friday night after failing to check in with tournament officials on the last day of the tournament.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
