The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a Canadian sailor who was last seen leaving Hilo in early August.
Paul Lim, of British Columbia, reportedly left Hilo for Victoria, British Columbia, on Aug. 1 aboard the 35-foot boat, Watercolour.
The Coast Guard estimated that Lim should have arrived in Victoria by Sept. 11.
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard at Rescue Coordination Center Alameda began asking mariners along Lim’s possible route to be on the lookout for his boat. Dozens of commercial vessels and all mariners along the Pacific Coast were alerted.
A C-130 plane from Air Station Barbers Point searched an area between Hilo and Victoria on Thursday with no sign of Lim.
The Canadian Coast Guard has contacted Lim’s family, who reported him overdue.
The Watercolour is a white-hulled vessel with white sails and a blue canvas dodger. Lim was also towing a 9-foot dingy behind the Watercolour.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Lim or the Watercolour is asked to call the U.S. Coast Guard at 510-437-3701.
Maui property full of fire ants
Maui Circuit Judge Peter T. Cahill on Friday granted an order prohibiting the movement of plant material and personal property in outdoor areas on a Haiku property infested with little fire ants.
Earlier this month, the state Department of Agriculture obtained a warrant to access the property at 82 Loomis St. in Haiku after the tenant refused to allow eradication crews to survey and treat the area.
Under the warrant, agriculture pest control personnel surveyed the 1.75-acre property on Sept. 12 and found little fire ants in potted plants, kalo patches and other vegetation, according to a department news release on Friday. Agriculture Department crews returned to the property on Tuesday and Wednesday to treat the infested areas.
Manta ray viewing rules
Proposed rules for the Makako Bay and Keauhou manta ray viewing sites in Kona will be discussed at a public information meeting set for 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Palamanui campus of Hawaii Community College.
Tour-related manta ray viewings have become so popular in recent years that has become unsustainable and unsafe, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Boating and Ocean Recreation Division.
The first part of the meeting will focus on the history of manta ray viewing on the Kona Coast. During the second part, Boating and Ocean Recreation Division officials will present its proposed management plan in detail and collect feedback from those attending the meeting.
