Photos courtesy boat crew, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu.
HONOLULU — The Coast Guard is seeking the public's help in identifying the owner of a surfboard found adrift four miles northwest of Kawela, Oahu, Friday.
The Woolley surfboard is 6-feet, one-inch long, white with leash attached.
Anyone with information that may help identify the owner of the surfboard is asked to contact the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center at 808-842-2600. Watchstanders at the Sector Honolulu Command Center received a report at 9:30 a.m. from a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew conducting search patterns in the area. The Dolphin crew hailed the nearby vessel Speaker and provided coordinates to locate and recover the adrift surfboard. "The Coast Guard encourages people going out onto the water to file a float plan and leave it with someone who can be depended upon to notify the Coast Guard, or other rescue agency, should you not return or check‐in as planned," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Perlita Villasenor, an operations specialist at the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center. "We also encourage owners who lose their water craft to report it to the Coast Guard with a good description so that we can eliminate any unnecessary searches."
A high surf warning is still in effect for north and west facing shores of the main Hawaiian Islands throughout the weekend. Mariners and residents are reminded to secure small vessels and personal recreation gear in coastal areas. Large surf and significant shore break, along with dangerous currents, pose a significant danger to beachgoers, swimmers, bodyboarders and surfers.
It has been determined that this surfboard does not belong to missing 59-year-old Alec Cooke.