posted 03-20-2007 01:42 AM ET (US)        

He's a very good friend of mine. We dive off each other's
whalers every few weeks, and have done several runs out
to way offshore sites together. He's been an occasional
poster here.

I gotta commend the CG. They've put a lot of resource on this,
and what's really amazing was that they had connected Kawika
to me (I still haven't figured out how, but I suspect somebody
was real good with Google) by the predawn hours on Sunday. I
was able to give them a good description of his boat, call
sign, MMSI, registration numbers. They were able to locate
the boat a few hours later.

He's in a good drysuit, young, smart, and very fit, but it's
been over 55 hours now.

posted 03-20-2007 02:24 AM ET (US)            

Erik

posted 03-20-2007 03:00 AM ET (US)            

Yes, he took tanks and planned to dive a site about five
miles offshore. He's a very skilled diver. Many more
experienced divers will dive alone, including me, though I
prefer a good buddy, and am glad to have one as my GF.

Yes, there's still a chance. A fading chance if he's still
in the water, a better chance if he made it to shore. There
are no real roads in that area, it's called "the Lost Coast",
and he'd have a long hike if he did kick to the beach, which
is not out of the realm of possibility.

posted 03-20-2007 10:49 AM ET (US)            

I just found out that when they picked up his boat yesterday,
it was half-swamped. The guy said "Can't sink a Boston Whaler".

posted 03-20-2007 01:20 PM ET (US)            

I used to teach underwater photog. in the warm waters of Panama...can't imagine doing that in cold water....

Harty guy!..............

Ive got to say also that if you go diving alone, warm or cold water, your asking for trouble, I dont care how many dives you have, warm or cold water whatever...One of the first things you learn at PADI is that!You never go alone........and they dont even fill your tanks if your not certified, and the certification courses make it plain you dont dive alone...........

I hope in this case He makes it ....just upset to hear a diver is lost and he went out by himself...thats all....

posted 03-20-2007 01:31 PM ET (US)            

Erik

posted 03-20-2007 07:19 PM ET (US)            

http://www.coldwaterimages.com/

posted 03-20-2007 09:18 PM ET (US)            

I wouldn't think that kawika would dive that far out from shore, but I don't know.

posted 03-20-2007 10:39 PM ET (US)            

And yes, blues are offshore, and also warm water, and not
that aggressive. Kawika and I have chummed them up and tried
to take pictures (they didn't like us in the water and split,
came back as soon as we got out).

All the indications are that the currents were really ripping
there, most likely Kawika got separated from the boat.
There's a good deal of evidence that he dove to unstick an
anchor (his camera was on the boat).

I'm very bummed.

There's a lot of discussion on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/

posted 03-20-2007 11:12 PM ET (US)            

I am so sorry to hear of your friends situation. I know that area well, and Punta Gorda is very unforgiving. I also know the Men and Women of the USCG in that area (Noyo and Eureka) and they are the best at what they do.

I hope for the best and send our thoughts and prayers to Kawika and his family and friends.

Please keep us updated as you are able.

posted 03-20-2007 11:12 PM ET (US)            

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=141021&start=1& highlight=sad&highlightmode=1

Very sad. Prayers sent.

posted 03-21-2007 05:27 PM ET (US)            

That's about it.

;-(

posted 03-21-2007 06:48 PM ET (US)            

First of all, I just can't get this man out of my mind. His website has so many levels of beauty & intimacy.

So, if there were no recent photos, and his anchor was down, he got there, dropped anchor, readied for his dive and.....?

There have been a rash of odd and tragic things in the past few weeks. I keep hoping that this will be the one happy ending.

My brother's closet friend from grade school through college, 38 years old, was playing softball last week, slid into base, got a surface abrasion on the ankle. Did not think much about it. 3 nights later he went to the ER for pain. They put him on antibiotics as it looked infected. He got out of bed the next morning and coded in front of his wife and 3 kids (under age 9). He died that night in renal failure due to septicemia.

posted 03-21-2007 09:57 PM ET (US)            

Dry suit or not, it's been four days now and that's a long time to go without fresh water. Have they given up searching entirely?

posted 03-22-2007 12:11 AM ET (US)            

Seems like one of the Search Divers reported one strand of the anchor rope had parted not too far from the anchor yesterday. Can you confirm this?

Maybe the anchor...this broken strand...is a big key to what happened?

What was the total length of the anchor rope in the water when they found the boat?

You may know better than anyone the relevance of the length of his anchor rope in that area taking all things into consideration.
(chain, size of anchor, Kawika's usual scope...does he tend to use minimal scope or plenty?)
Are you suprised his boat was not hooked up solid?

Sure, it's likely the strand parted later when the boat was drifting and the anchor suddenly hooked up hard but the fact it was drifting, his camera in the boat has me a little perplexed.

I still have hope.

posted 03-22-2007 07:25 AM ET (US)            

So, as in all diving, safety lies in staying out of those
parts of the envelope.

In Kawika's case, the most likely scenario is that he was
swept away by strong currents and couldn't get back to the
boat. I can't think of anybody more
capable of swimming against those currents than he. If there
was another diver in the water, the CG would have been looking
for two missing divers. The mistake was not having someone
in the boat who could drive the boat to follow their bubbles.
He did carry a small pony bottle as a backup air supply.

There are several possibilities about the anchor. It was
certainly deeper than was his normal habit. He may have
dropped it on a high spot upcurrent and missed because of the
current. It may have pulled off of the high spot. Dunno.

The fraying was due to abrasion over two days in rough
water. Charlie Notthoff, a commercial diver who dove on
the anchor on Monday said he had a LOT of scope out, and
that was his habit. Kawika carried 20' of chain and
400' (maybe more) of line and about six pound Danforth.

There's no evidence the boat drifted. And there's negative
evidence -- when you drift with a hanging anchor, and the
anchor finally catches, you end up short-scoped, and he
wasn't.

posted 03-22-2007 10:22 AM ET (US)            

First, I’m very sorry to hear about your friend. What a tragedy. How sad.

Second, I completely defer to you with respect to the things that place a diver most at risk. I was once open water certified but that was years ago and wouldn’t claim any expertise.

But . . . from what I can recall, those guys in FL were supposedly well trained. I think that I read that they were certified to dive on wrecks and “technical” divers. So . . . it seems that perhaps in their case it wasn’t a lack of training as much as a lack of good judgment. And this might be a third category for increased diving risk. Then again, I suppose that anyone “diving beyond their training, skills, and experience” is using poor judgment.

posted 03-23-2007 01:40 PM ET (US)            

<sigh>

posted 03-24-2007 09:00 AM ET (US)            

I am very sorry to of your missing friend. My thoughts are with his family.

posted 03-25-2007 09:57 PM ET (US)            

I can not shake this and I do not know the man, but I guess it is a reminder of the fragile nature of our existence.

My deepest thoughts are with those who were touched by Kawika.

posted 03-25-2007 10:16 PM ET (US)            

I've waited to post hoping that your friend Kawika would be found. I've been praying for him since your first post. I am sorry for your loss and know that the ocean has lost a friend as well.

My best,

posted 03-26-2007 12:05 PM ET (US)            

I'm really sorry for your friend. That kind of thing should just not happen. It's really sad that it has to end that way. But I'd like to send a message to all of us, let's all learn about this tragedy, How many time have you been at sea without wearing a PFD thinking that everything is going to be fine or without using you kill switch? well I don't know about you, but I've been several times. But I can assure you that I'll think vigorously about it before leaving the dock for the next fishing trip.

Rest in peace Kawika,

posted 03-27-2007 07:16 PM ET (US)            

I am truly sorry for Kawika’s family and friends. I am also sorry for the rest of us who spend our time on the surface, we have lost a person who had a phenomenal gift in the ability to show us what lives below the surface. Thank you for sharing the link to his website. I hope that the website continues on as a tribute to his work.

posted 03-27-2007 11:16 PM ET (US)            

There is stuff to learn here. Just because you got away with
it yesterday doesn't mean it will be OK today. Neptune can
be an SOB at times.

There's a really good article in this morning's Eureka Reporter:
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=22093

posted 03-29-2007 03:49 AM ET (US)            

Kawika certainly was a smart Man, hell of a guy.
I feel bad for Chuck.
It's perplexing.
I drag salvage logs and stuff around tied to 1/2" poly with my Tug all the time...I know the power it takes just to part one strand. Tons of power. 200 ft of anchor line would absorb a LOT of shock, I feel like that length would hold substantially more than the resistance of a Montauk in pretty rough surf.

Something very extraordinary happened in a very extraordinary area.
My hunch is that if he had been diving with someone else, we might be missing two divers.

prayers.

posted 03-29-2007 07:16 AM ET (US)            

Kawika's anchor line was three-strand nylon, 7/16" I think
(maybe 3/8). The strand had parted due to abrasion, not
tension.

posted 03-30-2007 06:36 PM ET (US)            

The most important thing is to know when and where to NOT
dive solo. I prefer to dive with a GOOD buddy, but I do dive solo
a bit when Adm. Linda is off on her bike or it's end of quarter
and she has to work the weekend, and my other buddies are off
doing something else. But I pick my days and places. If you
use the ski run grading system, I sure wouldn't dive a double
black diamond site solo even on a good day. And if it's
rock and roll, or the currents blowing hard, not even the
easy sites.

The site where Kawika went missing is beyond double black
diamond. As a ski slope, it would show up in the first
scene of an extreme skiing movie.

The key thing on those sites is to have someone in the boat
that can drive it and follow your bubbles, and a defined
"call the Coasties" time. The area to be searched grows as
the square of the elapsed time.

posted 04-01-2007 12:37 PM ET (US)            

Kawiki is on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle this morning.

I don't know if you have to register in order to see this story, if not perhaps you can search under title "Legacy Of The Deep".

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/01/ MNGMROVNMM1.DTL

posted 04-01-2007 05:36 PM ET (US)            

I've been up and down the Pacific Coast HWY a number of times. It's a beautiful drive - there's no question about that. But it wasn't until I started diving that I realized how much we were all missing just being able to look over the surface. What was beneath the surface was absolutely breath taking - a whole other world.

I can see where Kawika was drawn to the ocean - the diversity and beauty is beyond belief. To be able to capture it with a camera the way Kawika did is a true gift.

I can understand why Kawika dove alone If you play it to safe you'll probably never leave home plate and if you do it's only to first base. Kawika seemed like he type of person who was willing to take a well thought out risk and did. Unfortunately it just wasn't his day and I'm sure it wasn't without a fight that he gave up his life.

It's a sad day when you lose someone like Kawika but I can't help but admire him for following his dream - he certainly had one very creative ride here on the planet Earth.

posted 04-01-2007 09:38 PM ET (US)            

I found the messages in my archive folder and it made me laugh again...

From: Kawika Chetron [mailto:kawika@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 12:22
To: davepen@tcq.net
Subject: whaler board request

you called?

---

From: David Pendleton [mailto:davepen@tcq.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 17:27
To: 'Kawika Chetron'
Subject: RE: whaler board request

A weird question, perhaps, but is your real name Kawika?

---

From: Kawika Chetron [mailto:kawika@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 17:36
To: davepen@tcq.net
Subject: RE: whaler board request

Well, it's not "Mr. Bat Guano". Yes, Kawika is my real name.

---

We exchanged a couple of more messages about us both being
"haole Kawikas".

What a shame this whole thing has turned out to be. I didn't even know him, but I feel badly about his disappearance.

posted 04-02-2007 08:31 AM ET (US)            

Unoffically, here in Florida it seems that you read about losing a diver on a fairly regular basis, maybe a half dozen or so cases a year. In nearly all of the cases the lost diver was with other diver(s). There's an article in today's Palm Beach Post about losing a diver off Clearwater yesterday who failed to surface with his group. "Failed to surface with his group" seems to be a commonly used description of a lost diver event.

Based on that I think an experienced, lone diver is normally not significantly worse off than most divers are in a group. But in this case the described dive conditions were not normal and carried a high degree of risk.

Being successful in beating the odds say 9 times out of 10, 99 times out of 100, or even 999 times out of 1000 represent a relatively high degree of risk. Often it seems that with a string of 5, 50, or 500 consecutive successes we lull ourselves into thinking that nothing bad is going to, or can, happen and end up paying the ultimate price.

posted 04-02-2007 10:20 AM ET (US)            

A man with some pretty amazing talents is missing, and presumed dead. He died to young, a damned shame. Yes, he was diving alone. Had he had a partner, maybe he would be alive, or maybe there would be two missing. Had he not gone out that day, he would most likely be alive. Wouldof, couldof, shouldof.

posted 04-02-2007 01:47 PM ET (US)            

Yeah, we're continually told by unnamed 'authorities' that participating in certain activities alone is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Well, one of the costs of avoiding solo adventures in the name of security is the loss of one's sense of self, of independence, of personal discovery--the loss of those incredibly important special contemplative times that can only be experienced and enjoyed alone. In our busy, complicated, industrialized and over-populated world, especially for those of us living and working in an urban setting, solo undertakings are truly therapeutic, and IMO absolutely necessary (in varying degrees according to one's personality) to maintain one's balance and sanity.

We come into existence alone and we leave for our final cruise single-handed. Kawika was living life with an intensity very few experience, and he had creative skills which allow all of us to share his vitality, his life-energy, in a small degree. From all accounts (and undeniably demonstrated by his amazing photography) he had a high degree of skill as a diver. That he took risks is also undeniable, but life without some degree of risk is actually lifelessness, cowardess, a life unlived in fear. His work, and the admiration of those who knew him personally and those who, like me, knew him only through his work and from stories about him from his friends, will stand as a memorial to a man who truly lived. Vale, Kawika!

Tony

posted 04-09-2007 04:50 AM ET (US)            

I'd be looking for a way to take the PLB with me. I vaguely
recall one that's depth rated, and OMS has a canister that
would work if it's the right size. And one of my dive buddies
is a machinist who could make up a cannister (he makes HID
lights on the side).

posted 04-11-2007 10:41 AM ET (US)            

This doesn't keep us away, but tragedies like the loss of Kawika underscore the need for even the most skilled and experienced to be extra cautious. I fish alone about half the time I go out, and I shiver when I think about the times I've slipped or stumbled while moving about my boat or while leaning over the gunwales to net or gaff a fish, and only just caught myself in time to prevent myself from going overboard. Even though I keep a GPS in one pocket and a submersible VHF in the other (most of the time!) when single-handing, they would be of dubious value to while I was thrashing around in fifty-degree water as my Whaler putted away into the fog at three knots. Hmmm, maybe I'll take up needle-point and gardening instead...after this salmon season, that is.

posted 04-20-2007 10:55 AM ET (US)            

FRI Ap 20, Santa Rosa--A man who drowned near the Point Arena lighthouse on Thursday morning was the third abalone diver to die on the Mendocino Coast in little more than 24 hours, authorities said.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

The story goes on to say that three people died and two were seriously injured on the Sonoma-Mendocino coastline last year, and in 2005 six people drowned and one diver was fatally bitten by a great white shark.

And so it goes...

posted 04-20-2007 11:05 AM ET (US)            

"Beyond This Point Your Life May Depend on Your Good Judgement"

posted 04-20-2007 12:58 PM ET (US)            

I have a collection of every West Coast Lighthouse between Cabo & Point Barrow.
Litho's, photos, matchbooks, History books, coffee table books, a whole shelf of minatures, calendars.
A numbered/signed lithograph poster of St George hangs on the office wall. Most of the other stuff is in a box now.

Never been there by boat.
I'd like to take my own picture of it some day. Maybe on the way back from the SF rendevous but I dont think Im gonna have time to make it.

Built on a Island no bigger than a postage stamp in 1867 out of granite concrete.
1867! Still standing.
When was the Gold Rush in Eureka?
To me, this accomplishment is like a Pacific Ocean version of building a pyramid.

posted 04-22-2007 02:00 PM ET (US)            

Today, I walked aboard several public safety boats and got up close and personal with two incredible helicopters, all of which are technically owned by you and me; the taxpayers. Flying around in an aluminum framed box propelled by rotors is much more inherently dangerous than boating, and yet the number of helicopter crashes are very small and rare in this country. That is because the operators are highly trained, use extreme judgement and caution, and would not hesitate to cancel a flight or operation due to foul weather. This is not true for the general public as is witnessed by any given opening day for fishing. The last two crab and salmon opening days have been under small craft advisories, yet many boaters went out despite warnings. At least one commercial boat I know of sustained damage that was discovered later due to their decision to go out in the rough weather.

Anyway... let's keep up the discussion but perhaps with more suggestions on how to avoid the tragedies. Always dive with a buddy, have a system of checks, avoid fishing alone, or at least be sure and establish vhf contact and a rescue plan. I admit to not always doing things perfectly, but working next to a coast guard station part time has given me an opportunity to observe some good habits for boating safety.