HOV lane error snarls traffic

The drive from Hawaii Kai to town took longer than normal Monday morning because there was one fewer town-bound lane on Kalanianaole Highway during the morning rush hour.

The high-occupancy vehicle lane into town was not coned off Monday because of an "unfortunate" situation, said Louise Kim McCoy, a spokeswoman for the city.

McCoy said a substitute driver on the crew that sets up the coned, contra-flow lane could not make it to work Monday morning, and the Road Division did not learn about the situation until it was too late to set up the lane.

McCoy said two city road crews normally set down the cones marking contra-flow lanes on Kalanianaole Highway and Kapiolani Boulevard.

The extra lane is normally available for vehicles with more than one occupant during the morning commute on Kalanianaole Highway.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Yacht stranded on Maui reef

A yacht abandoned at sea when its injured captain was rescued by a cruise ship has washed up on Maui’s north shore.

The Quantum Leap ended up on a reef off Maui’s Baby Beach in Spreckelsville last week. The Maui News reports the Coast Guard and the state were working to remove the wreck.

Phillip Johnson, 62 was delivering the boat to Hawaii from San Diego when he ran into bad weather. Rough waters and heavy winds rocked the boat, sending him flying across the galley and leaving him too injured to sail.

A Hilo-bound cruise ship, the Celebrity Century, rescued Johnson and two others on board Oct. 7 about 700 nautical miles northeast of Hawaii.

Coast Guard officials said they had brought in a team from Oahu to remove fuel, oil and other fluids from the 48-foot yacht, the Maui News said. A state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman said the agency was working on a plan to remove the vessel and determine who would be responsible for paying for the operation.

Tree breaks hiker’s tumble

A 55-year-old hiker escaped injury Sunday when he fell 30 feet from the Hana-kapiai Trail on Kauai and landed in a tree, the Kauai County Fire Department said.

The hiker from Diamond Bar, Calif., fell about three-fourths of a mile from the Kee hiking trail at about 3 p.m. Sunday. A tree broke his fall and the man was not injured, the Fire Department said.

Fire rescue personnel found the man and were lowered from a helicopter to his location. The rescuers brought the hiker up to the trail and walked out of the area with him.