KAILUA-KONA — The sight outside Wendell Kualaau’s Kailua-Kona home Monday afternoon was one of family and friends gathered by a parked boat for beers, fish and laughs.
But hours earlier, no one would’ve guessed that same vessel was capsized 6 miles off Kealakekua Bay. Kualaau and his friends, Bill Souza and Frank Carvalho, clung to the partially submerged 22-foot fishing boat for an hour and half before the Hawaii Fire Department rescued them early Monday.
“It’s mind over matter,” Kualaau said. “I’m the captain and my responsibility is for my crew.”
The Hawaii Fire Department first got the alarm at 1:44 a.m. The first responding unit reached the victims at 3:15 a.m.
The fire department contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. They sent out an Urgent Marine Broadcast letting other mariners in the area know there was a distress situation.
According to the Coast Guard, they launched their rescue helicopter from Oahu. However, the fire department was able to reach the men before the aircraft reached their location.
Kualaau took his boat, the Kamaliaoha, and his crew out at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, launching from Keauhou Harbor.
“We went out and it was rough,” Kualaau said. “The water was coming over the back, over the back, over the back.”
When he realized what was happening, Kualaau made the 911 call and told Souza and Carvalho to don their life jackets.
“I told them this is gonna happen really fast,” Kualaau recalled.
The captain closed the cabin doors and the boat went down shortly after.
“But I believed in the boat,” Kualaau said. “The boat is sound.”
The vessel and Souza’s water-resistant iPhone 7 saved the three men’s lives. Kualaau held the cellphone above his head for nearly two hours before rescue came.
“He was able to talk to the fire department and tell them exactly where we were,” Souza said of Kualaau.
Souza said big swells did hit the men. While he knew the sharks were there, he just didn’t think about it.
“It wasn’t traumatic,” he added.
Carvalho praised the rescue personnel who came to their aid. He said they were heroes.
Souza noted the trio’s gratitude for the department’s efforts, keeping in contact and keeping them informed throughout the ordeal.
The men didn’t suffer any injuries. The rescue personnel left lights attached to the vessel to alert other boats of the navigational hazard.
Later Monday morning, Kualaau went back to the harbor to see if there was boat who could take him out to Kamaliaoha so he could tow it in. The Poke Shack boat and another fisherman named Kawika helped tow the vessel in to Keauhou Harbor.
With Kamaliaoha back safe outside his home, Kualaau spent the afternoon draining the old oil and cleaning the salt water out – all over laughs, fish and beer with friends and family.
Occasionally, a passing driver would stop to check on Kualaau and say how glad they were that he was OK.
Kualaau’s son-in-law, Michael Elvenia, wanted to thank friends and family who reached out and called to make sure his father-in-law was alright.
“There’s so much love from the community for Wendell,” he said with tears in his eyes. “We’re so happy they came out safe.”
The three-man crew didn’t catch anything that night.
“All we caught was a ‘fishing tale,’” Kualaau said with a chuckle.