Emergency crews in West Maui responded to reports of a 25-foot sailboat adrift off of Pohaku Park, better known as, “S-Turns” in Kahana, on Friday Oct. 13, 2017, at around 8:15 a.m.
Napili firefighters were on scene at 8:23 a.m. and spotted the sailboat about a mile offshore with no one visible on board.
A rescue watercraft from Fleming Beach Park and a rescue boat from Lahaina responded to the incident after it was discovered that someone had paddled out with a longboard to reach the drifting
vessel.
Crews eventually found the male on the longboard just as he reached the vessel.
The man, a 22-year-old from Lahaina, was the owner of the sailboat.
He was able to start the sailboats auxiliary motor and navigated back to the vessels original mooring at Mala Wharf in Lahaina.