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A father and daughter's fishing trip almost ended in disaster after the pair nearly drowned at sea.
Claude Moreau, aged 70, and his daughter, Charme Moreau Taksony, went on a jaunt to Maui over the weekend.
On Sunday morning the pair were on their way back to Kahului Harbor from Hana after a successful expedition.
However, Moreau accidentally fell asleep while the boat was on autopilot as his daughter slept.
The pair awoke when their boat crashed, hitting rocks on the island's north shore.
Moreau spoke to HawaiiNewsNow and explained the near-death experience. He said: "I sat down because I was tired and the next thing I know I was sleeping.
"I didn't know I was sleeping, next thing I know, BAM! That is how I woke up."
Moreau Taksony explained how the situation quickly became dire as the boat began to sink.
She said: "I looked at him and said, 'Make a mayday call right now.'
'He got in, 'Mayday, mayday, this is Maile.' Then the boat went under and he went under with the boat.
Moreau Taksony lost sight of her father at this point and believed he had gotten himself trapped underneath the vessel.
She continued: "You see those movies where people are trying to save those people underwater and they can barely get to them, and I had that feeling because I went down and I couldn't see him."
She then dove under the water and was able to heave back to the surface.
However, the pair now faced a second problem as they were stranded in the ocean.
Moreau Taksony said she was aware of the situation they found themselves in and the importance of getting to shore.
She added: "I look at the shoreline and [I see] crashing huge rocks, and crashing huge lava rocks.
"I held him and I went on my back just like a lifeguard, just pulling and swimming with my head up and taking deep breath.
"I kept telling him, 'Don't let the water go in your mouth' because that's what was happening, it was going in and drowning both of us.
"The waves are crashing, we have to not bash our heads open. So that was the point when we were trying to get in, I had that moment of wow we may not make it."
Moreau Taksony said it took the pair over an hour to swim to the rocky shoreline.
They then faced another obstacle as they were stranded at the bottom of a giant cliff.
Moreau Taksony was able to eventually climb to the top thanks to ropes left alongside it.
She said: "Thank God and all His angels for those wonderful fishermen who put out ropes.
"Somebody put ropes, I was like, 'There are ropes, I can make it'".
Moreau Taksony was able to climb the cliffside safely and find some people who could then call 911.
The Maui Fire Department was able to pick up Moreau from the bottom of the cliff and take him to the hospital in a helicopter.
The pair say they are happy to be alive and are grateful to their community and hope their story will be shared so others don't make their mistake.
Moreau walked away from the incident with only a few bruises and issued a warning to others and said: "We have to learn from this.
"There should always be at least one person not sleeping and if you are that tired, you should anchor the boat and sleep."
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more