Outdoors/Adventure

Kayaker subject of search near Sitka after boat found adrift

SITKA - A search was underway for a man missing on a kayak trip outside Sitka, the U.S. Coast Guard announced.

Kale Pastel, 36, left on an early morning kayaking trip to Birdsnest Bay. He did not return and he was reported missing, the Coast Guard said.

A witness spotted Pastel's kayak on Sunday morning overturned and adrift in Eastern Channel. The witness towed the kayak to Cannon Island.

The Coast Guard and Sitka Mountain Rescue launched a search. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew at 1:15 p.m. launched from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and spotted the kayak on Cannon Island.

The Coast Guard is asking anyone with information about Pastel to contact the agency.

ADVERTISEMENT