Yesterday afternoon off West Maui a rough-and-tumble sunset booze cruise turned fatal as the mast snapped on the Kiele V, a catamaran carrying 50-odd tourists. The accident occurred in heavy tradewinds with gusts that were probably in the 30 to 40 mph range. The best article out is in the Honolulu Advertiser (in fact, the local paper, the Maui News, still doesn't seem to have a story up). Two other people were injured in the accident, though not critically, according to the Advertiser article. This is the second fatal mast-snapping accident on a tourist sailboat this year. I was there (literally) when the first one happened off Waikiki in December.

After the mast snapped, the vessel was pulled into the water by the sail and rigging, tossing all the paying customers into the drink. The captain was reduced to hacking at the rigging with a hacksaw to free the sail and right the crippled boat. Does two make a trend? And how tightly regulated are these boats? I believe in the last mast-snapping tragedy, the US Coast Guard had not inspected the boat for seaworthiness for years. Granted, these accidents are rare and freakish but gotta ask that question. Overall, this has not been a good stretch for Hawaii soft adventure tours. Aside from the two fatal sail boat accidents, there have been two fatal helicopter crashes on Kauai involving tourists.

—Alex, 03/26/07