A Salt Spring Island man is missing somewhere in the Pacific Ocean after leaving Hilo, Hawaii, on a sailboat in August.
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for Paul Lim, who reportedly left Hilo bound for Victoria, B.C. on a 35-foot (10-metre) sail boat on Aug. 1. Coast guard officials said he should have arrived home by Sept. 10 or 11.
One U.S. Coast Guard C-130 plane searched between Honolulu and Victoria on Thursday. During the search, crews were contacted by a fishing boat that last made contact with Lim in early August about 300 miles (480 kilometres) north of Hawaii.
Radio calls have been sent out to all mariners along the Pacific coast, including Hawaii and Alaska.
This is not Lim’s first time getting stranded at sea.
The sailor was hit by a storm and a rogue wave in 2011 in the Bass Strait off Australia, causing his boat to sink during an attempt at sailing around the world.
According to an interview with the Toronto Star at the time, Lim said he wanted to buy another boat and try sailing around the world again.
The Canadian Coast Guard is keeping in contact with Lim’s family, who first reported him missing to the Coast Guard earlier this month.
Lim is reportedly on board the Watercolour, a white-hull Spencer vessel with white sails and a blue canvas dodger. He was also towing a nine-foot (almost three-metre) pink dingy.
If anyone has information on the whereabouts of Lim or his boat, they are asked to call the U.S. Coast Guard at 510-437-3701.
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