The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a British Columbia sailor last seen by a fellow mariner leaving Hilo, Hawaii, in his boat on Aug. 1.
Lt. Donnie Brzuska said in a release on Friday that Paul Lim of Saltspring Island apparently left Hilo bound for Victoria aboard his 10.7-metre (35-foot) sailing vessel Watercolour.
The U.S. Coast Guard estimates that Lim should have arrived in Victoria by Sept. 10 or 11.
The Sailing Vessel Watercolour is a 35-foot white hull Spencer vessel with white sails and a blue canvas dodger. Paul Lim of Saltspring Island, British Columbia, reportedly left Hilo bound for Victoria, Canada, aboard the 35-foot Sailing Vessel Watercolour. He has been reported overdue.
Brzuska said that coast guards at Rescue Coordination Center Alameda, Calif., began broadcasting to mariners along Lim’s possible route on Sept. 21 to be on the lookout for his vessel.
They have queried dozens of commercial vessels along his route and are broadcasting to all mariners along the Pacific coast including Alaska and Hawaii.
A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point in Honolulu completed a search in an area between Hilo and Victoria on Thursday with no sign of Lim.
Brzuska said the Canadian Coast Guard has made contact with Lim’s family, who had reported him overdue, and is acting as a conduit for information in the search.
The Watercolour is a white hull Spencer vessel with whites sails and a blue canvas dodger. Lim was also towing a 2.7-metre (nine-foot) pink dinghy behind the Watercolour.
Anyone with information on Lim’s location or the Watercolour is asked to call the U.S. Coast Guard at 510-437-3701.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria is referring all queries on the search to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Brzuska said late Friday that there have been no new developments in the search.
He said that a fisherman may have seen Lim in early August about 480 kilometres (300 miles) north of Hilo, but it hasn’t been confirmed.
