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| Family holds out hope
Pacifica man will be found Kayak was swept away offshore from Costa Rica Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer |
Monday, April 23, 2001
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Despite grim predictions from U.S. Embassy officials, a Pacifica family held out hope yesterday that their father would be found after disappearing Wednesday in choppy waters while kayaking off the coast of Costa Rica. "We're holding up; we've been working hard for a while," said Dan Huber in a telephone interview from Costa Rica. Huber hasn't slept much since his father, John Huber, 55, was swept away offshore from the small Pacific Coast fishing town of Tamarindo. John Huber was visiting his 21-year-old son, Dan, who has been studying Spanish at the Wayra Spanish Institute in Tamarindo. On Wednesday morning, a calm, beautiful day, Dan Huber and his father, a computer program designer for ETranslate in San Francisco, got into their kayaks and paddled out to Isla Capitan, a small volcanic and shell island popular with snorkelers and not more than a mile offshore. After several hours of snorkeling, the father and son began the return trip to Tamarindo. It was just before dusk. A trip that normally takes 20 minutes turned tragic when strong offshore winds suddenly picked up and waves began to swell, capsizing their kayaks. Struggling to regain control of his kayak, John Huber -- described as physically fit and a good swimmer -- was overwhelmed by exhaustion, his son said. Both agreed Dan would go back to shore for help. He left his father with life jacket, kayak and paddle. He returned in about an hour after rushing to the hotel to call the Red Cross and local authorities. He returned to the scene in a double kayak with an experienced kayaker. They searched the waters, but John Huber was nowhere to be found. Despite being told by U.S. Embassy officials that it was unlikely his father could have survived after nearly five days in the ocean, Huber said he remained optimistic. "We're going to keep going until we've ruled out all possibilities," Huber said, as local fishermen joined search and rescue teams from the Costa Rican Coast Guard and Red Cross, who continued to look for his father by land, air and sea. "The local people, the fisherman, the divers all have been able to tell stories of people being lost a lot longer and surviving." Yesterday, Huber's mother, Denice, arrived in Costa Rica to help in the search. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in San Jose said several Costa Rican government agencies had been searching since Thursday to no avail. Cindy Hale, owner of Iguana Surf, the kayak company from which the Hubers rented their boats, said it was unusual for these types of accidents to happen. "We're all still numb," said Hale. Huber said regardless of the outcome he had extreme gratitude for townspeople who came to lend their aid, allowing the family to use phones and fax machines, and also thanked local fishermen who joined the search in their big offshore fishing vessels. "They're people who have businesses, lives, jobs and families," Huber said. They are the people who have done the most." E-mail Christopher Heredia at cheredia@sfchronicle.com. |
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