Kayak company stripped of permit

The state Land Board on Friday revoked its permit to a West Hawaii kayak business that conducted a coastal tour July 4 in which a wave swept one of its clients — a 15-year-old New York state boy — out to sea and to his death.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources gave Hawaii Pack and Paddle 30 days to shut down its operation in Kealakekua Bay.

The company may appeal the revocation at the board’s Oct. 12 meeting.

State Parks Division Assistant Administrator Curt Cottrell told the board the company violated three conditions of its permit, including deviating from the designated tour area in Kealakekua Bay.

Cottrell said members of the tour were about a quarter-mile southwest of the area they were supposed to stay in when they ran into severe problems.

"Basically, public safety was jeopardized," Cottrell said.

Tyler Madoff of White Plains, N.Y., was in a tide pool area when waves swept him and a 15-year-old Miami boy out to sea. Guides rescued the Miami teen but Madoff’s body was never found.

Cottrell said Hawaii Pack and Paddle also failed to abide by terms that limited it to two tours per day, each no longer than 21⁄2 hours.

He said Hawaii Pack and Paddle initially told the state that it had four people on the tour involving Madoff but later admitted it had 13 people, one more than the maximum allowed.

The Madoff family’s attorney, Susan M. Karten, said she feels the board made the right decision.

She said the Madoff family was worried about the company continuing to operate the tour and said the board’s action was one step closer to seeing "this doesn’t happen again."

"It took Tyler Madoff’s death for that to happen, unfortunately," she said.

Attorney Robert Frame, representing Hawaii Pack and Paddle, asked the board for more time to prepare his client’s responses to the charges.

Frame, interviewed later, said he needed to interview people on the tour and that he understands from talking to the company that "unusual circumstances" led to the tragedy.

Frame said tour members were warned to not stray from the designated area but did so anyway.

State park officials have also sent letters out saying they’re considering not renewing permits for three other kayak tour operations to the Captain Cook monument when they expire in December.

Cottrell said the designated area is among the most sensitive historic sites in the state, and allowing the kayak tour permits to lapse would give state officials time to look for a better solution.

He said the monument area has no comfort stations and no staff assigned regularly to make sure kayak companies are following state rules.

Cottrell said under the current system there is a lot of unauthorized activity and difficulty monitoring compliance to rules.

Cottrell, interviewed after the meeting, said the state parks division has seen its budget reduced from $8 million in 1993 to about $3.9 million this year.

The Madoff family last month filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hawaii Pack and Paddle and Colo­rado-based Bold Earth Teen Adventures, the company that organized the overall Hawaii trip for the mainland teens.