Sailboat Runs Aground off Moloka‘i’s South Shore

The owner of a 30-foot sailboat that ran aground on Molokaʻi’s south shore on Sunday, will attempt to free the vessel at high tide on Tuesday morning.  Attempts to free the vessel on Monday were unsuccessful.

Sailboat grounded off Molokaʻi. Maui Now graphic.

The mariner called emergency dispatchers on Sunday night, Aug. 13, 2017 at around 10:19 p.m. to report that his boat had run aground off of Kalaeloa Point in Keawanui, about 12 miles east of Kaunakakai town.  Pūkoʻo firefighters spotted the vessel stranded on the reef about a half-mile from shore, just west of the Wavecrest Resort on Kamehameha V Highway.

Maui fire officials say the sailboat reportedly left from the Māla Wharf area in Lahaina, Maui sometime on Sunday and was navigating towards shore when the vessel ran aground on the reef at around 5:30 p.m., about a half-mile off of Kalaeloa Point.

There were six people on the sailboat, including five males and one female, all in their 30’s. Three males and the female got off of the boat and spent Sunday night on shore.  The male operator of the vessel and another male remained on the boat overnight until high tide at 10 a.m. on Monday when they attempted to free the sailboat from the reef.

A local resident using his own boat, tried to pull the sailboat off of the reef but was unsuccessful. The sailboat’s operator will attempt to free the vessel at high tide again on Tuesday morning.

There were no injuries reported and fire officials say the sailboat was undamaged and was not leaking any fuel.