Kailua-Kona women recount dramatic sea rescue pulled off by new SKI-2 team

KAILUA-KONA — Ginger Fancy found herself in dire circumstances almost too quickly to notice what was happening.

Part of a group of several friends who traveled to Mahukona on June 18, Ginger paddleboarded around the bay before a powerful current caught her in its grasp and whisked her out to sea.

The situation only deteriorated from there.

“I was having a hard time making headway,” Ginger said recently, recounting her terrifying experience. “I paddled harder and harder, but the current just kept pulling me out. The wind picked up. I lost control and went down, (cracking) several ribs.”

Two local women recognized what was happening and notified Ginger’s friend, Kimberly Nichols-Gay, to the situation. Ginger’s husband Steve Fancy was in a kayak with Kimberly’s 12-year-old son Jaron, and the two paddled out into open ocean to rescue Ginger.

They, too, soon became victims of the same violent current and increasingly powerful trade winds, which reached up to 45 mph that day. The combination rendered conditions more and more perilous as the three were swept further into the Alenuihaha Channel — a notoriously rough stretch of ocean off Hawaii Island.

It was a potentially fatal mistake lifeguard Robin Fasciano said was easy to make.

“No matter their ability, nobody should have been in the water that day with a vessel that has no motor,” Fasciano explained. “When the wind is (blowing) offshore, the water close to shore looks calm because it’s flat, but the wind is still pushing you. It’s kind of like an optical illusion. It makes it look safe when it’s not. It can happen right when someone enters the water.”

Cell reception in the area is spotty at best, but finally, a 911 call cleared. Kimberly said within minutes the police, fire department and paramedics were on scene. But that was of little help. The nearest rescue boat was in Kailua-Kona, and Fasciano explained it would have been well over an hour before the boat could have even launched from surrounding waters.

A rescue helicopter based in South Kohala was out of commission, and any timetable for the arrival of its sister chopper from Hilo could only be guessed at. The nearest Coast Guard vessel was also on the east side of the island.

All the while, Ginger, Steve and Jaron drifted swiftly out into the vast expanse of ocean, first only a speck on the horizon, and soon invisible to the naked eye.

“When I couldn’t see the kayak anymore, I panicked,” Kimberly said. “I actually dropped to my knees and prayed because I thought I was never going to see my son again. I just thought, ‘My son is gone.’”

Jaron’s saving grace arrived on the back of a jet ski. Fasciano and his partner Paul Tucker are members of SKI-2, part of the Rescue Watercraft program under the umbrella of the Hawaii Fire Department’s Ocean Safety Division.

SKI-2, implemented July 1, 2015, has participated in 34 rescues since its inception. Its purpose was to address situations exactly like this one.

“Before the jet ski program was started, every year or every couple years a kayak would go missing with people never to be seen again,” Fasciano said. “That kind of tragedy was pretty common. It’s a needle in a haystack kind of thing. If you lose sight of them, then the chances of finding them are real small.”

Luckily for Jaron, Ginger and Steve, one member of the fire department perched atop a fire truck with binoculars was able to provide the SKI-2 response team with general directions upon arrival. Fasciano said it still took a five-minute ride straight out before they were able to establish a visual.

One thing the lookout couldn’t see so clearly were the choppy, increasingly dangerous ocean conditions, which were frighteningly clear to Ginger and her companions.

“It was gale force conditions out there, white washed,” Fasciano said. “It wasn’t even a blue ocean. It was just all white.”

Initially, Ginger swam alongside the kayak, but as the swells grew larger, she was forced out of the water. The waves began to rise so high, none of the passengers could see the shoreline when they hit a lull.

“I was just in survival mode at that point,” Ginger said. “We were trying so hard to get to shore, I pulled a bunch of muscles in my chest. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced when we realized that physically, we couldn’t get ourselves back.”

Avoiding capsizing became the sole goal of their paddling as the tension mounted. Prepping themselves for the worst, Ginger and Steve began instructing Jaron on what to do if the kayak did turn over, which ropes to hold onto and the like, as none of the passengers were wearing life jackets.

Jaron was crying softly, trying to stifle his sobs as not to inject any more fear into the tense, somber situation. Then, for the first time in more than an hour, the passengers in the kayak felt a splash of something other than choppy ocean water — relief.

Jaron caught a glimpse of the shore for a brief moment, as the kayak dipped over the crest of a swell. He spotted what he thought were flashing lights, indicating that a rescue attempt was likely in progress.

Several minutes later, Ginger spotted a jet ski bobbing up and down in the rough waters. They were safe.

“They had that pale skin, big-eyed look on their faces like they were going to die,” Fasciano said. “The kid started crying as soon as he got off of the jet ski. They were just thanking God and thanking us. It was pretty heavy.”

Kimberly shared the sentiment when her only son made his way onto shore and into her arms.

“I just said, ‘Thank you Jesus,’” Kimberly said. “My heart was so relieved.”

Kimberly felt not only relief, but also good fortune. Without SKI-2, which didn’t exist only a year earlier and which addressed the emergency more quickly than any other rescue unit could have, there’s no telling how it all might have turned out. 

“It’s hard to say exactly what would have happened,” Tucker said. “But I can tell you, they were happy to see us.”