Catamaran Accident Off Maui Continues Run of Hawaii Visitor Fatalities
Monday March 26, 2007
Another visitor to Hawaii was killed on Sunday as a result of an accident of a tour provider. This time it was not a helicopter crash that resulted in the death of a 48-year-old man. It was an accident aboard a catamaran that was owned and operated by the Hyatt Regency Resort on Maui's Kaanapali Beach.
The U.S. Coast Guard along with the Teralani 3 and Gemini catamarans responded to a distress call from the 55-foot Kiele V which had lost its mast about two miles off of Kahana Beach off of West Maui.
Reports indicate that the the mast of a catamaran broke during a sunset whale-watching cruise. Unable to detach the rigging from the broken mast the boat was dragged under the water and eventually sank.
The Coast Guard credits the Maui Fire Department and the two good samaritan boats in helping to bring the 50 survivors, including three injured passengers, to shore. The Coast Guard's Polar Sea (a 399-foot ice breaker, which was moored near Lahaina) launched its small boat to respond to the Kiele V's distress call.
In addition, a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Maui at Maalaea Harbor responded to the call for help along with a HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Barbers Point Air Station which helped all the units on scene communicate with one another.
The Kiele V was a whale-watching vessel owned by Hyatt and regularly runs ocean tours along the coastline near Kaanapali. The vessel carried 47 passengers and four crew members.
The Coast Guard reports that the accident is under investigation. The deceased man has been identified as Hal Pulfer of Highland Park, Illinois who was visiting Maui with his wife and three children ages 7, 10 and 12.
The Kiele V was last inspected by the Coast Guard in September 2006 and received a Certificate of Inspection, which is valid for five years.
This is the second incident of this type in the past four months. On December 1, 2006, a 13 year-old boy was killed when the 65-foot mast of the tour catamaran Na Hoku II snapped in brisk winds off of Waikiki, crushing him. In that incident the boat did not sink.
This incident also follows closely on the heels of two helicopter tour accidents on Kauai in which five people were killed and several others seriously injured.
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.
Comments
State health and safety officials need to take a serious look at Hawaiian tourist industry’s poor transportation safety record and ways to improve it.
Although every death such as this is tragic, it must be put in the perspective of the overall safety record of tourist activities - which is quite good. Obviously, this and every accident should be investigated to see if all reasonable precautions and proper maintenance procedures were followed. I’m going to Maui in April and my wife and I will be cruising on the Gemini on Kaanapali. I’m not worried.
Now i cant say what excatly happened but i am a sailor and the rule is never stand or sit in the lee, the opposite side of where the wind is coming from of the mast, never..
in maui april two weeks..
My family (7yr.old son, 3yr. old daughter, husband and I were passengers on the Kiele V when the mast snapped. Advise on where you should and shouldn’t sit comes a little too late, but maybe someone in the future will learn by it. I wish we would have been told that. I wish we would have been told a lot of things. It was absolutely terrifying for me, my family and our friends and their 2 1/2 yr. old daughter. We never saw the Coast Guard, our rescuer were the kind and generous passengers and crew from the Gemini. I will forever hold them in my heart. My hands and still trembling and my heart breaks for the Pulfer family. I saw the looks on their faces when they feared the worst had happened. I am grateful to be alive and to have my family safe at home now, but the tragedy is still with me and I don’t feel it going away!!! I need answers.
My children, Alec 11, and Ainsley 13, and I were also on board the Kiele V, on Sunday, March 25th when the mast broke. My daughter Ainsley was on the front of the sailboat when the mast broke/snapped…..I am also so thankful to everyone on the Gemini Sailboat, there were gracious, and ever so caring to all of us that came aboard the Gemini following the tragic accident on Kiele V. I have not stopped thinking and praying for the family of Hal Pulfer, his wife, and three children….may god be with them today and always. Thank you to all the crew of both Kiele V and the Gemini with the utmost professionalism and care and concern for all passengers!
Kristin, Ainsley and Alec
Catamaran masts are normally designed to be strong enough to turn the catamaran over, so poor maintenance is the most likely culprit here. Stainless steel parts are normally a key part of a mast’s support system, and are prone a kind of corrosion in which stress opens up cracks and salt water completes the damage where oxygen can’t get at the stainless steel to protect it. (Stainless steel protects itself from corrosion by forming a layer of hardened stainless steel by combining with oxygen.) The USCG should start to include the standing rigging of masts in its surveys.
Tim:
How do you know this information regarding the masts? Are you a sailor? Last I heard there was no mast to examine, it was lost at sea! The boat drifted to Molokai and fell apart on a coral reef. If it was poor maintenance, how do they find that out withou the parts to examine?
My husband and I sailed on Friday March 23rd, and Sunday March 26th on the Kiele V. It was an amazing sail with the crew from the Kiele V Celebrating our 24 anniversary. Sunday proved to be a day we will never forget. My husband is a firefighter and when this unbelievable tragic event unraveled, it was heart wrenching. Bob, along with a young woman who identified herself as a vet, did all they could to help the amazing crew with the injured couple as well as Mr. Pulfer. Freak accidents happen, there is no place for me to put blame as they did everything they could possibly do to save the rest of our lives while the boat quickly took on water. The skipper worked under water trying to free the sail/rigging. It was unbelievable! It was the brave crew that I will never forget. But more so, I will never forget Colette Pulfer and her children. There brave mother who held her 3 children close, to protect them. Other passengers who comforted her, they too were wonderful. It was an unbelievable live changing event for us all, especially the Pulfers. May God bless them. We continue to pray for them as they move forward to piece thier lives together. As for the crew, may they know how thankful we are for their compasion and endless effort. We thank them as well as the firefighters who helped us to the fire rescue boat. We are blessed to been there to lend a hand in a very tragic accident.
I’m glad to have found a forum where some people who were on the Kiele V are talking about the experience. I was on the boat too with my wife and 10 month old and three and a half year old daughters. I suppose it was due to the adrenalin and shock that I didn’t realize I got badly hurt until a couple of days later (after jumping from the boat and swimming along side the life raft with the kids to safety via the amazing folks aboard the Gemeni). I had just gone on to the deck and had my hand on the mast when it broke. I got hit by the boom or something real hard, sweeping me off my feet and was almost knocked overboard. My arm swelled up huge the next day and I’ve had it in a sling since. Tomorrow I go to see if my hip was fractured too since my limping and pain since the event has gotten worse and worse. I am so glad my family did not suffer any physical injuries.
My heart goes out to Colette, her family, and the others on board who sufferred physically and psychologically as a result of the event. Life is sweet. This experience has helped me see that more clearly than anything. - Jeff
Dear Jeff,
I hope you get this, I know it’s been since April 22, since you wrote, but I just read your comment. I was holding your oldest daughter along with my three year old daughter and your wife and little baby were in the raft with me during the rescue mission. I’ll never forget her face, it is forever embedded in my mind and in my heart. I remember saying to you as I grabbed hold of her and held her tight, “I promise, I’ve got her and I won’t let go!” What a brave little girl!! I remember kissing her little forhead as she cried because of everything that was going on. I looked at your wife and she was holding your beautiful little baby. The look on her face was one of shock and disbelief. Please give your family my best and let your wife know that you and she did everything in your power to protect your children and I’m glad God put me there to help. Thank you for being so brave and hanging on to the outside of that boat. I will remember you. If you or your wife would like to contact me or my husband, I would be happy to give information to you somehow. Please reply and I’ll give you an 800 number. I’m sorry to hear about your physical injuries. I wish you well! When we were sitting on the Gemini, you and your family were sitting directly across from us. I saw the look of pain on your face and worried that something might be wrong. I wish so badly that we would have exchanged information. Sharing this horrific experience with others that were there brings a whole new perspective to the emotional strain that I carry. May God Bless you and your family. Survivor of Kiele V -Sheila
Yes, I’m a sailor, and a yacht designer too. My remarks about the rig are not based on an inspection of the rig of the Kiele, but on general knowledge. I sailed a sailboat across the Pacific. Stainless steel is subject to stress and crevice corrosion, and I think that masts which depend on stainless steel rigging which see the frequent and hard use of a day passenger boat in Hawaii should have their stainless parts inspected and dye tested at least twice a year, and the stainless parts should probably be replaced every three years or so.