USCG assists boater whose vessel took on water off Pakala Beach

PAKALA BEACH — A fishing vessel on Kauai’s westside was assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard after becoming disabled and taking on water on Tuesday.

The Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Honolulu command center received a distress call at approximately 2:40 a.m. for the recreation fishing vessel Alkane-49, which had become disabled and adrift off Pakala Beach.

The Kaua‘i Police Department (KPD) made contact with Sector Honolulu watch standers, who directed KPD to conduct a marina check. Law enforcement then directed the launch of USCG Station Kaua‘i 45-foot response boat along with a HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station at Barbers Point.

Once on scene, the USCG airplane crew witnessed Alkane-49 deploy a flare at around 5:12 a.m. and witnessed approximately 100 gallons of water quickly sinking the vessel at around 1 gallon per minute.

The Kaua‘i Station boat crew successfully towed Alkane-49 to Port Allen Harbor, where they assisted the boater with the leak.

The vessel operator also reported that a second individual was on board and successfully swam to shore immediately after the boat became disabled.

The response boat crew confirmed that the individual had arrived safely at Port Allen Harbor.

“Distress signals like flares are a vital tool to have on your vessel,” said Mike Mullins, operations controller, Sector Honolulu command center. “In emergency situations they can help first responders quickly locate and assist those (people) in distress.”