Kauaians have joined Ni’ihau residents in demanding a 27-year-old Kaua’i man back off on a second attempt to swim across the channel between the islands. Last Saturday, Matthew Davidson swam 17 miles in the nude toward Ni’ihau before a Navy
Kauaians have joined Ni’ihau residents in demanding a 27-year-old Kaua’i man back off on a second attempt to swim across the channel between the islands.
Last Saturday, Matthew Davidson swam 17 miles in the nude toward Ni’ihau before a Navy helicopter plucked him out of the water and took him to Barking Sands on Kauai’s western shore.
Davidson had planned to swim 20 miles from Barking Sands to Ni’ihau Wednesday, but called off his plans after residents, in a poll taken by the Robinson family, which owns Ni’ihau, said they didn’t want him on their island.
Davidson bowed to the Ni’ihau residents’ wishes and called off his swim across Kaulakahi Channel.
In an e-mail message to The Garden Island, a Kauaian said, “Keep this guy off of Ni’ihau. They have clearly indicated they don’t want him landing on their island.”
To make the swim a yearly event as Davidson has proposed “will only create problems for the residents of Ni’ihau,” the e-mailer wrote.
Another Kaua’i resident said, “If this guy wants to swim channels, then get him to swim the one between Maui and Kaho’olawe.”
And another said Davidson should “pay for it (the cost to rescue him) when he can’t pull it off.”
Coast Guard officials said the cost of the search-and-rescue operation was more than $74,000, but the agency doesn’t bill for its services. The amount excludes the Navy’s involvement and a ground search by the Kaua’i County Fire Department.
Paul Cardus, press secretary for U.S. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawai’i), said Akaka felt the solo swim and the rescue should not be the catalyst for federal legislation that would require victims to reimburse the government for emergency services.
“We need to be careful when we view legislation, because it can’t be necessarily inspired by one incident,” Cardus said. “You have to look at the mission (of the Coast Guard), and in this case, it’s the protection of lives.”
The Coast Guard is funded to provide emergency rescue services and doesn’t expect Davidson to pay for them, said Petty Officer Lauren Smith, a Coast Guard spokeswoman on O’ahu.
“We are more concerned with safety than we are with cost,” she said.
The search for Davidson involved two Coast Guard helicopters, a C-130 airplane and a small search boat from the Coast Guard station at Nawiliwili.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it would not get involved in the case, including issues related to billing Davidson for the rescue, unless requested by the Coast Guard.
Fire chief David Sproat said the county fire department, which initiate a ground search for Davidson around Hanapepe Bay, would not attempt to bill Davidson because the firefighters who conducted a ground search were already on duty.
“It was not an emergency,” Sproat said. “Because there was already a work crew, there is no extra cost to the county.”
Smith said the Coast Guard can’t stop Davidson from attempting another swim from Kaua’i to Ni’ihau, but will launch a search and rescue mission should he get in trouble.
However, Coast Guard officials said the agency discourages people from getting involved in ocean activities that would jeopardize their lives and the lives of rescuers.
Davidson said he swam 17 miles and planned to swim 10 remaining miles to Ni’ihau last Saturday before he was taken by a military helicopter back to Kaua’i. He was treated at Wilcox Memorial Hospital and was released.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
