Fisherman missing in Kaua‘i Channel

Kaua‘i contractor Roy Takatsuki is missing in waters between Kaua‘i and O‘ahu.

A Coast Guard search was expected to continue in ocean waters north of O‘ahu through midnight Sunday for Takatsuki.

The Kaua‘i man and his 18-foot Boston Whaler were reported missing at 7 p.m. Friday when he failed to return within the specified time set for the North Shore Hanapaa Jackpot Fishing Tournament. The tournament was based out of Hale‘iwa Harbor on the North Shore of O‘ahu.

Another fisherman found Takatsuki’s boat, the Beverley, late Saturday morning 10 miles north of Kilauea, Kauai. Its motor was running in idle, and its fishing lines were in the water.

The fisherman discovered Takatsuki’s cell phone and redialed the last number Takatsuki had called, putting the fisherman in touch with Takatsuki’s friend Glen Kaneshiro.

“I thought I was dreaming,” Kaneshiro said. “I thought Roy was calling me.”

But then Kaneshiro learned Takatsuki wasn’t aboard the boat.

“I think he just fell off,” Kaneshiro said.

Kaneshiro said he spoke with Takatsuki on Friday morning after Takatsuki set out on the third and final day of the North Shore Hanapaa Jackpot fishing tournament.

Takatsuki had to hang up because an outrigger used to hold fishing lines was falling off, Kaneshiro said.

A Coast Guard C-130 was dispatched at day break Saturday morning and covered more than 1,000 square miles off the North Shore, Coast Guard officials said.

A Coast Guard helicopter from Barber’s Point and the Coast Guard cutter Kitti Wake out of Nawiliwili Harbor also are involved in the search, covering seven miles seaward from the North Shore of O‘ahu, officials said. At the same time, fishermen who participated in the fishing tournament out of Hale‘iwa are continuing the search for Takatsuki, according to Brooksann Anderson of the Coast Guard Public Affairs office on O‘ahu.

Takatsuki’s fishing boat was empty when fishermen spotted the craft about 10 miles northeast of Hanalei at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Anderson said.

The boat motor was set on cruise control when the boat was found, according to a witness who was at Anini Beach when the boat was brought to shore there at 1: 30 p.m. Saturday.

The fishermen who found the boat initially towed Takatsuki’s boat back to Anini Beach , where Coast Guard personnel were to check the craft in their attempt to determine the whereabouts of the missing man. The boat was to have been towed to the U.S. Coast Guard station at Nawiliwili for further inspections, but the family of the missing man reportedly retrieved the boat, according to a witness.The whereabouts of Takatsuki are unknown, Anderson said. “We don’t know exactly where he is, and we aren’t going to speculate,” she said. Although Takatsuki’s boat was found in waters north of Kaua‘i, the Coast Guard search has been confined to waters off O‘ahu because that is the place where he was last seen by other fishermen in the tournament, Anderson said.

“The thinking is that he would be closer to the area where he was last seen,” Anderson said. Coast Guard officials are re-evaluating search patterns every two hours, based on factors like waves and currents, Anderson said.

Close friends of the missing man flew on Saturday to O‘ahu, where Coast Guard officials briefed them on the search, Anderson said. “My heart goes out to the family,” she said.

Takatsuki participated regularly in the O‘ahu tournament, according to a friend on Kaua‘i who didn’t want to be identified. He said Takatsuki would launch his boat from East Kaua‘i and motor across the Kaua‘i channel to O‘ahu to compete in the annual tournament.

Takatsuki is a former president of the Contractors Association of Kauai, and is owner of Roy Takatsuki Construction Company in Lihu‘e.

Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net

The Associated Press contributed to this report.