off Māla Wharf - A moored catamaran quietly fills and goes down off Māla Wharf
A 42-foot catamaran lying about 300 yards off Māla Wharf in Lahaina, Maui, took on water and sank, staying partly afloat where she went down. The one man aboard, 67, was helped off by a passing boat and needed no treatment.
What happened.
On 16 January 2026 a 42-foot catamaran moored about 300 yards off Māla Wharf in Lahaina, Maui, took on water and sank, staying partly afloat where she went down. The one man aboard, 67, was helped off by a nearby boat and needed no medical treatment. No one else was aboard.
On the morning of 16 January 2026 a 42-foot catamaran lying at a mooring about 300 yards off Māla Wharf in Lahaina, Maui, was reported to be taking on water; the alert reached authorities around 10:08 a.m. She could not be saved and sank, though she stayed partly afloat where she went down. The one person aboard, a 67-year-old man, was helped off by another boat already on the water and needed no medical attention, and a jet-ski crew confirmed no one else was aboard. As a record it is a quiet but instructive one: a boat at rest on a mooring floods on nobody's watch. Without a crew aboard actively pumping and without an alarm to raise the alert, a slow leak — a failed hose, a tired seacock, rainwater and a stuck float switch — has all the time it needs to win. The lesson is unglamorous maintenance and monitoring: a working bilge alarm, sound below-waterline fittings, and someone checking a moored boat often enough to catch water before it catches the boat.
What it teaches.
- 1A boat at rest floods on nobody's watch. With no crew pumping and no alarm, a slow leak from a failed hose, a tired seacock or a stuck bilge-pump float has all the time it needs. Fit a high-water bilge alarm and keep below-waterline fittings sound.
- 2Check a moored or anchored boat often — a quick look and a bilge check catch water while it is still manageable. Here the boat was already gone by the time anyone noticed; a nearby vessel getting the one man off was the good outcome.
Where this comes from.
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