Rescuers airlift stranded
Maui fisherman from ledge

His boat capsized in a storm, and
he swam to shore in the dark

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> Rescue crews airlifted a 65-year-old fisherman off a rocky ledge in East Molokai yesterday more than 24 hours after high waves capsized his boat during an overnight storm.

Rex Vogan used basic survival techniques to swim to shore in rough seas.

"I couldn't see nothing," he said last night while recuperating at Molokai General Hospital. "The only time I could see the shoreline was when lightning flashed."

Vogan, who has lived on Maui for several months, suffered minor cuts and bruises and was listed in fair condition.

Vogan said he had gone bottom fishing to Molokai from Kahului Harbor on Monday on his 14-foot rubber inflatable boat, thinking a thunderstorm was confined to Oahu.

He found out differently once he was off Molokai, and decided to bring his boat closer into Halawa Bay for protection. "That was a mistake," he said.

Vogan said he could not see the waves as they approached but knew they were "pretty big," and one of them capsized his boat, throwing him into the water between 2 and 3 a.m. Tuesday.

He said he was not wearing a life vest but wore rubber pants and tied the ends into knots to hold air and then used them to float.

He also found one of his swimming fins floating in the ocean and used it to swim to shore. Vogan said the swim took 20 to 30 minutes but seemed "like an eternity" as he battled the waves while trying to figure out which way was land.

"It was tough knowing which way to swim, but the waves told me which way to go," he said.

At one point he reached shore but was swept out, and the second time he swam in, he tumbled over rocks.

Vogan said at daylight he saw he was on a rocky shelf surrounded by a 100-foot cliff on the southeast end of Halawa Bay, and he decided to stay where he was.

He said he stacked empty coolers and other items so that he was visible and waited all day Tuesday.

Vogan said he saw tour airplanes flying overhead, but none of them noticed him. He said he was not too worried because he was able to catch and drink rainwater and gather opihi for food.

But he was unable to stay dry because an occasional wave, probably about 10 feet high, would sweep across the shelf, throwing him over rocks.

A fisherman on a passing boat saw him yesterday morning and notified authorities.

A county fire rescue helicopter lifted him in a basket to a nearby field a little after noon yesterday, and he was taken to the hospital.

Vogan, a resident of Las Vegas, said he and his wife sailed on a 33-foot boat to Hawaii from Mexico and have been living in Pukalani since May.

He said he has been out on his 14-foot boat to fish off Lanai, but this week's trip was the first off Molokai.

"I'm real lucky," he said. "I was lucky I didn't get hurt."