HONOLULU– The U.S. Coast Guard asked mariners for help Friday in finding a 60-year-old man who sailed from California to Hawaii.
Noel Rubio left Long Beach on Dec. 28 on the 30-foot sailboat Malulani, the Coast Guard said in a news release. He planned to arrive in Kaneohe on the island of Oahu three weeks later.
He last made contact by cell phone on December 28 south of Catalina Island, California.
The agency has been unable to find him despite searching ports in California, Hawaii and Mexico and sending urgent maritime information broadcasts.
Rubio’s only form of communication aboard the Malulani is a VHF-FM marine radio band.
The Coast Guard is asking people to report any information or sightings of the ship or Rubio to rescue and coordination centers in Alameda, California or Honolulu.
The Coast Guard recommends that sailors crossing the open ocean travel with multiple forms of communications, including radios and satellites and an electronic position radio beacon, so authorities can find those in need of rescue.