A group of 28 to 30 visitors on kayak river tours were rescued by Kaua‘i Fire Department rescue boats and a Coast Guard rescue boat near the Fern Grotto on the Wailua River yesterday. After a hike around the grotto,
A group of 28 to 30 visitors on kayak river tours were rescued by Kaua‘i Fire Department rescue boats and a Coast Guard rescue boat near the Fern Grotto on the Wailua River yesterday.
After a hike around the grotto, the kayakers returned to the river bank, but discovered they could not get to their kayaks on the other side of the river because the river was swollen.
Earlier that day, a flash flood warning had been issued for Kaua‘i rivers and streams in the morning and afternoon hours.
The warning was called off in the afternoon as rains subsided.
In two rescue attempts, the boats picked up the stranded kayakers and brought them safely to the Wailua Marina before 6 p.m.
“They were tourists. Nobody went to the hospital. No injuries at all. They were all going home,” said Bosun’s Mate First Class John Moreland of Coast Guard Station Kauai.
Moreland said the kayakers were part of a tour led by Outfitters and Kayak Wailua, two kayak companies.
“They went hiking into the Fern Grotto and when they came back, the river swelled up,” he said.
The kayakers were on the southern bank of the river and couldn’t get to the northern bank of the river where their kayaks had been tied up before they went on their hike, Moreland said.
“It was a flash flood, and probably a 20-to-22 mile current on the river, as estimated by one of the firemen,” he said.
One of the kayakers called authorities for help with a cell phone before 3:30 p.m.
Kaua‘i Fire Department officials subsequently sent rescue boats to the river, and between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. contacted the Coast Guard for additional help due to the large number of people who needed help.
A 23-foot rigid-hull rescue boat from the Coast Guard Station at Nawiliwili Harbor was transported by trailer to the Wailua River boat ramp, and was launched to find and assist the kayakers, according to Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney on O‘ahu.
The rescue boats picked up ten to 20 stranded kayakers around 4:30 p.m. and picked up the rest after 5 p.m., Moreland said.
A Coast Guard helicopter from Barber’s Point on O‘ahu arrived at the scene around 4:45 p.m. to help rescuers locate the stranded kayakers, Delaney said.
Personnel aboard the helicopter were ready to lower a basket to the river’s edge to pick up the kayakers, but they didn’t have to because the boat rescue was successful, Delaney said.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681, Ext. 225, or email lchang@pulitzer.net.
