LIHU‘E — Bill Duke, 69, of San Clemente, Calif., a retired policeman described by friends as being in fantastic shape for his age, is likely the fifth drowning victim in Kaua‘i waters this year, and the second in less than a week.
He died at Wilcox Memorial Hospital Tuesday, a family friend said.
Hospital spokesperson Brooke Johnson, when given the names of the two most recent apparent drowning victims, David Grainger and Duke, said the names of the victims don’t exist in their system so she could not offer any information on the victims.
A county press release stated that David Grainger, 76, of Spokane, Wash., was pronounced dead at Wilcox on Friday.
While swimming at Moloa‘a, not a lifeguarded beach, when waves increased in size quickly Tuesday, Duke and an older male friend got into trouble and tried to return to shore against a strong current, according to a county press release and other sources.
His friend, 73, made it back to shore, but even with the assistance of a bystander, the two were unable to pull Duke to shore. Hanalei firefighters brought Duke to shore and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and he was transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital in critical condition, according to a county press release.
Grainger, snorkeling near Tunnels Beach Friday morning with his son, complained of choking, and his son called for help, a county press release stated. County lifeguards responded, but Grainger was unconscious when lifeguards brought him to shore.
Duke was “in the best physical shape you can imagine for a person of 69,” said friend Frances Messinger of Princeville, who was a neighbor of Duke’s in San Clemente before she moved here.
She said she wants hotels to do more to inform guests of the dangers of ocean waters around Kaua‘i.
“I’m in a dither with the hotels. They need to educate guests,” she said. “I’ve been frustrated for over a year and now I’m just appalled. Hotels need to become responsible.”
Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, said, “We’ve done a huge amount of work” to get water-safety brochures into hotels. “If you don’t go to a lifeguarded beach, if you get caught in a current, it could be a challenge,” she said.
“I think we’ve done a lot to educate people. Our hearts and prayers are with the families and we’re really saddened by the losses,” she said.
Pat Durkin, a lifeguard and water-safety instructor, gives instruction to hotel employees on suggesting tips to visitors who ask ocean-related questions through the Water Awareness Visitor Education program, Kanoho said.
Messinger said Duke and a friend booked a last-minute vacation at the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villa and arrived on the island Sunday. Duke’s son arrived Thursday.
“The most beautiful beaches in the world are here. Sometimes they’re safe, sometimes they’re not,” Messinger said. “Hotels need to become responsible.”
Kauaiexplorer.com is a Web site where visitors and residents can go and get the day’s surf and ocean forecasts, and Kanoho said she has her work computer set up to receive instant messages whenever ocean conditions change during the day.
“The hotels could do that. We need to at least put out the word” about the dangers of the ocean, Messinger continued.
“Everyone needs to get after these hotels to be responsible.”
Grainger and Duke are the fourth and fifth people to drown in Kaua‘i waters this year, putting the island on a pace to record 12 drownings this year. There were 14 in 2008, and eight in 2007.
On average, there are eight to 10 drownings a year on Kaua‘i, according to Dr. Monty Downs, a Wilcox emergency-room physician active with the Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Task Force, in an earlier column in The Garden Island.
Downs could not be reached for further comment Thursday.
According to county press releases and The Garden Island archives, the three other apparent drowning victims this year include a 66-year-old Canadian visitor, in Po‘ipu on Jan. 10; Jerry Matsui, 50, of Mission Viejo, Calif., also at Po‘ipu, on Feb. 4; and a Japanese visitor, 33, in Wailua River, on March 7.
The common-sense rules of water safety on Kaua‘i are to never swim alone, always swim at lifeguarded beaches, always check with lifeguards before going into the water, always carry some sort of personal floatation device (life jacket, bodyboard, surfboard, etc.) and when in doubt, don’t go out.
Experienced water people almost always sit on the beach and observe conditions for several minutes before journeying out. Sometimes, they decide conditions are too rough to risk it, and don’t go out.
“The challenge of the ocean is really something to be respected,” Kanoho said.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
