Sea Scouts rescue sailboat at Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor

NAWILIWILI — Commodore Larry Richardson, of the Kauai Sea Scouts, said the scouts aboard the USS Decisive “saved the day” on Wednesday at the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor.

Taking advantage of fall break, the Kauai Sea Scouts were participating in the annual small boat training at Nawiliwili Harbor. The training involves the scouts staying onboard Decisive at the dock for a couple of nights while they are training in small boats.

“A sailboat came in to dock under sail,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately, they missed it and had to go back and try again. It was at this point when they got blown over onto the rocks and were stuck there.”

The Sea Scouts watched the events unfold, putting on their life jackets, grabbing what they needed — a tow line, a heaving line, a boat hook and some hand-held radios — before going into action under direction of their student leaders.

“It looked like a tug of war,” Richardson said. “The Sea Scouts were able to get the tow line to the distressed vessel, then proceeded to pull the vessel off the rocks from the dock.”

Towing the stricken vessel by hand using a series of lines, the Sea Scouts were able to safely get the vessel into its own slip.

“At that point, some of the scouts put their emergency medical training to use and treated the mariners for minor injuries,” Richardson said. “The mariners on the sailboat were extremely grateful for the help they received.”