Harbor Pilot Dies Falling From Vessel
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Captain David "Kawika" Lyman was making his way off the "Island Princess" cruise ship to the waiting pilot boat when he was pitched overboard and injured by the pilot boat or possibly the propeller.
He was recovered by the pilot boat captain, and brought to Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, where members of an awaiting American Medical Response ambulance crew brought him to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
U.S. Coast Guard marine safety investigators were on the scene Sunday night, and continue their investigation because of the seriousness of the accident. State and federal laws mandate that licensed, experienced harbor pilots be at the helm of large, foreign-flagged ships, including many cruise ships, maneuvering in and out of Hawaii's harbors.
The Nawiliwili Harbor entrance requires ship captains to perform a full "S" turn in order to avoid the protective seawall and jetty, sometimes with only feet to spare before shallow reefs come into play in the shallows of the northern section of the harbor, not far from Kalapaki Beach. Waves along the eastern shore of Kaua'i were around five to eight feet that day.
