Search Called off for Missing Kauai Fisherman - Kauai's 6th Drowning Death this Year - Thoughts on Life and Death

After a three days and a multi-agency search effort, the search for a missing Lihue fisherman, 55 year old Darall Pascua, was suspended Monday afternoon. The Coast Guard reported that responders performed 44 searches covering 524 miles over a three-day period.

The initial report was that he was standing on the reef off of Marine Camp Saturday and was attempting to retrieve a fishing net about 50 yards from shore, when a friend on shore lost sight of him.

My thoughts, and prayers, go out to the Pascua family. As a long time fisherman this is a risk we all face. It also goes to show you how quickly that the ocean can take us, despite our experience.

As I get older, and climbing over the rocks, and diving in the ocean, gets harder and harder each passing year I think about the possibility that I will not return from one of my trips now and then. These thoughts come late at night when I cannot sleep, or when I get a close call when a rogue wave slams into me. Any fear quickly turns to comfort as if it is my time to go, I would like to go out doing something that I love.

The other thing that I think about is that if the ocean claims me I hope it when I am out on the ocean alone. My fear is that I don't want my friends, and family, to find my body if the ocean takes me. The fear of them finding my cut up, decomposed corpse, brings me nightmares. If mother ocean takes my life I hope she takes me completely, so that my body becomes sustenance for the creatures that have sustained me for all of my life.