Boat accident victim was family man
A friend of the visitor remembers a man who was involved with his community
In a small dead-end street in Highland Park, Ill., Hal Pulfer was often called the "mayor" of Balsam Road.
"Everyone knew him," said Pulfer's neighbor Murray Salzman, 56. "Everyone talked to him. He knew everything that was going on. If the city had something planned for the street, we would ask Hal."
Pulfer, 48, died Sunday afternoon after the mast on a whale-watching catamaran off Maui broke.
Pulfer was visiting Maui with his wife and three children, ages 7, 10 and 12, said Maui County spokeswoman Mahina Martin.
Two others were injured in the accident and were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where one was released Sunday night. The other remains in guarded condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The Coast Guard is investigating the incident on the Kiele V, a 55-foot catamaran owned by the Hyatt Regency Maui and Resort.
On Sunday it carried 47 passengers and five crew members.
The crew reported that the vessel's mast snapped, and called for help at 5:09 p.m., when they were about two miles off Kahana Beach, according to the Coast Guard.
Two other whale-watching vessels nearby -- the Gemini and Teralani III -- were the first to respond, with the Coast Guard and Maui Fire Department following.
Jason Moore, a photographer contracted with the Teralani III, said passengers of the Kiele V were getting on life rafts by the time the Teralani III reached them.
"I could see them huddled under the cabin tops," Moore said. "There were definitely concerned looks on their faces, but there was no pandemonium or screaming."
Moore said crew members from the Gemini jumped into the water to help passengers in the life rafts onto their boat.
"In all the eight years I've been on the water, I never experienced anything like this," Moore said.
The Coast Guard and a private helicopter hired by the Hyatt conducted air searches yesterday to locate the sunken catamaran but were unsuccessful, Martin said.
Locating the catamaran could help the Coast Guard in its investigation, which might last six to eight months, Lt. John Titchen said.
"It is certainly helpful in an investigation to have physical evidence," Titchen said. "However, we can piece together what happened from interviews with passengers and crew members."
This is the second death in recent months in catamaran accidents in the state.
Jordan Loser, a 13-year-old boy from Riverside, Calif., died on Dec. 1 after the mast on the Na Hoku II snapped and pinned him while on board in the waters off Waikiki.
Though the two incidents seem similar, Titchen said they are unrelated and should not be compared. In the December incident, the boat passed its inspection by the Coast Guard but had past problems.
The Kiele V received its certificate of inspection in September, and it was good for five years, Titchen said.
"Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family," Titchen said. "It's a tragedy any time we have a loss in the maritime community."
Meanwhile, Pulfer's neighbors wonder what they can do for his family.
Salzman, who knew the Pulfer family for at least 13 years, said Hal Pulfer would always play with his kids in the driveway in the evenings and on the weekends, usually baseball.
"They're a wonderful family," Salzman said. "I'm sorry this happened. I will miss him."