The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday afternoon ended its search for missing boater Mark Brewer, 47, of Kapa’a. Believed lost at sea since Friday evening, he was first reported missing Saturday evening by his son, after the son failed to get
The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday afternoon ended its search for missing boater Mark Brewer, 47, of Kapa’a.
Believed lost at sea since Friday evening, he was first reported missing Saturday evening by his son, after the son failed to get a call from his father saying he had reached O’ahu safely.
Coast Guard searchers found the 22-foot power catamaran Sunday afternoon, but Brewer was not aboard.
Brewer left Nawiliwili Harbor around 1 p.m. Friday, and planned on arriving at O’ahu’s Ko Olina Harbor around 8 p.m. Friday. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since Friday afternoon.
Private searching also ended yesterday, said Brewer’s wife, Mary Brewer.
“There’s no reasonable chance that he’s still alive on the surface of the water,” based on an estimation that he was swept overboard sometime Friday evening, Lt. Desarae Atnip, Coast Guard spokeswoman, said yesterday afternoon.
Alone and without a radio or emergency-positioning beacon, Brewer had planned on boating on to Moloka’i last weekend to offer his catamaran as an escort boat for a Moloka’i-to-O’ahu canoe race held Sunday.
The search lasted nearly four days, and covered more than 9,000 square nautical miles.
Involved were two Coast Guard patrol boats, and Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Navy and Honolulu county fire department aircraft. The search began Saturday evening, an hour after he was reported missing.
Volunteers also searched the Waianae coastline of O’ahu, near the area where Brewer’s catamaran was first discovered Sunday. His catamaran was located 2:47 p.m. Sunday, 16 miles west of Waianae, but Brewer was not on board.
The Coast Guard estimated the cost of the search at over $700,000, not including Navy or Coast Guard Auxiliary expenses.
