Ill-fated boaters
got warning

A harbor pilot recalls seeing
two men in a Boston Whaler
in the path of a cargo ship

A harbor pilot boat operator says he warned two fishermen in a low-riding Boston Whaler of an oncoming container ship Thursday night before the bodies of two men were found the next morning.

Kikila Hugho said in an e-mail message that he believes he talked to fishermen Roy Okamoto and Mark Cameron before surfers discovered their bodies floating in Kewalo Basin. Okamoto's 13-foot Boston Whaler was found capsized at 7:30 a.m. on a reef off Ala Moana Beach Park.

Hugho said he thinks Okamoto was at the helm, but did not recognize him. Hugho said he graduated with Okamoto from Kalani High School in 1968 and also played varsity football with him.

At 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Hugho said, he spotted three dim lights in the path of an IGA container ship heading into Honolulu Harbor.

Hugho raced toward the small boat, which sat unusually low in the water and did not have the required lights, he noted.

"I put my spotlight on them and spoke to them over our PA system," he said. "I advised them to move in the Ewa direction and away from the ship's path.

"I said, 'Hey, look behind you guys,'" Kikila Hugho said. "They freaked out. They said, 'What we going do, what we going do?'"

He told them to keep going and escorted them to safety.

Capt. Ed Enos, who was piloting the ship into the harbor, said the boat moved well out of the way, and later "they just zoomed across the bow of the ship and headed towards Diamond Head."

The Boston Whaler was a safe distance from the ship, Enos said.

Enos said the ship was traveling slowly at a rate of 5 knots and that the wake from that ship or any other would not have likely caused the boat to overturn.

Enos said he suspects the light surf and light Kona winds might have contributed to the capsizing of the boat.

In contrast with tradewind weather in which a boat would drift away from where the surf breaks, Kona winds would cause a boat to drift into the area where the surf breaks, he said.

Enos last saw the boat off Fort Armstrong between Honolulu Harbor's and Kewalo Basin's ship channels.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has taken over the investigation from police and has taken the boat into custody. Spokeswoman Deborah Ward said she could not comment on the investigation.

The Medical Examiner's Office said the two men drowned, and foul play is not suspected.

Hugho said Okamoto had a "great sense of humor" and "wonderful attitude."

"Speaking for all our friends who played ball with him during our high school life at Kalani, he was a great friend, we loved him and will surely miss him," Hugho said.