Vessel swamping 1/25/12 11:00 AM
Kaneohe Bay between Kapapa Island and Chinaman's Hat at the surfline or breakers.
HA 8381 H -= Two outboards 70 hp  & 20 hp Evinrude - hull is fiberglass with aluminum frame & wood floors.
Owner took six people out for free diving to spear fish with his 26' pontoon boat stored at a private residence. At 11:00 AM after a second dive the owner noticed the port side pontoon listing so he inspected and found he was taking on water and proceeded to bail it out.  He was unable to control the water and at that point he distributed the PFDS to his passengers.  He stated he had 20 life preservers. At 12:30 PM he and another person started to swim for the Sandbar while another pair swam for Kapapa Island to get help as the vessel was adrift. The others remained on the pontoon which was upright but swamped and drifting out to sea due to the southerly wind.  Owner found some boaters on the sandbar who called for help .
As of 8:30 AM this morning 1/26/12 Coast Guard reported the vessel adrift 1 mile East of Kualoa Beach Park.
Owner says he had three anchors aboard but does not remember if they were tied to the hull.
Owner attempted to recover the vessel this morning at 8:00 AM but was not successful but he will make another attempt tomorrow weather permitting.
Update on overturned vessel near Kualoa:
HFD Capt. called me yesterday afternoon and last night to update me on the overturned vessel.  From what he was able to find out, there were 7 people on a 26' metal pontoon off of Chinaman's hat.  There were 5 divers in the water and 2 people on the pontoon.  One side of the pontoon was taking on water and before they knew it, the vessel became swamped and overturned.  There were no life jackets on board the vessel and all of the cell phones they had were submerged once the vessel swamped.  Everyone final did make it to land safely one way or another.  According to Captain, he talked to someone on the vessel and found out that the vessel was not registered, even though it had a motor.  No one wanted to talk about who the owner was or where he was.  The person claimed the boat was kept on a trailer at an address in Kaneohe.  
Capt. was concerned because it seemed like the persons weren't planning on returning to the scene to recover the vessel, but to only recover some diving gear.  He said that the vessel was about 200 yards off of Chinaman's hat and in line with Kipapa Island.  I'm going to follow up this morning to see if he has heard anything. 
The vessel is not in the same place and the owner has looked around the area.  For now, we aren't doing anything.  with the winds, it's possible the vessel was headed out towards Midway Island.  The USCG has put out a notice to mariners so hopefully boaters will keep an eye out for it.

KANEOHE                       