Hunter Lewis
This afternoon searchers looking for missing 21-year-old Hunter Lewis of Blue Lake found battered pieces of his canoe on Martin Creek Trail beach located off of Seacape Drive north of Trinidad.
![Searchers last night. [Photo by Jae Wood]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image1-1.jpeg)
Searchers yesterday. [Photo by Jae Wood]
According to Jae Wood, who is assisting in the search, last night the searchers learned that “one of the captains [had] seen Hunter between the inside buoy and Pilot’s point. Today the same captain provided the information that the current that morning was running North with a strong push from the south east. This changed the focus and search area for the Halcyon and they quickly spotted [the canoe] off the bluffs about a mile north of Elk Head.”
![The beach where the canoe was found. [Photo from Captain Jared Pepper off of the Halcyon]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image0-4.jpeg)
The beach where the canoe was found. [Photo from Captain Jared Pepper off of the Halcyon]
She told us, “Locals helped us figure out which cove that was and lead the way and we were able to confirm that the washed up debris was more than half the canoe.”
![Part of the canoe located off Martins Beach north of Trinidad. [Photo provided by family]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image2-e1641082456701.jpeg)
Part of the canoe located off Martins Beach north of Trinidad. [Photo provided by Jae Wood]
The canoe’s seat was also located not far from the canoe.
![Part of the canoe located off Martins Beach north of Trinidad. [Photo provided by Jae Wood]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image3.jpeg)
Part of the canoe located off Martins Beach north of Trinidad. [Photo provided by Jae Wood]
“It has taken a community again to get this much support,” Wood told us. “Search efforts right now are north of Pilots Rock.” She added that searchers are still “looking for more of the canoe, a black backpack, paddle and Hunter.”
Hunter Lewis
UPDATE: Search for Missing 21-Year-Old to Continue Sunday
Earlier: Coast Guard Searching for Missing 21-Year-Old in Trinidad Bay
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Thank you, Kym, for the update.
There is still hope.
Hopefully he’s staying warm up trail somehow…looks like sneaker wave tossed him into rocks… bummer
Dear God, I just pray that Hunter is alive. Pictures of that smashed up canoe give me a very upsetting feeling. Please find him searcher’s!
I had a fiberglass canoe that broke in two going down a river while I was in it. I was fine, not injured. The conditions that destroyed the canoe didn’t necessarily destroy Hunter. There is still hope.
An open deck canoe is not a rough / swift water craft. Best for lakes and ponds. Despite Burt Reynolds performance in Deliverance. Only way it makes sense in the ocean is with float bags and a life jacket. Sad day.
Shame that information wasn’t available earlier. Could have made a big difference..
Dyes were put in the water and all currents were running south. So everybody looked south? How could that kind of mistake be made by the coasties? I’m not looking to place any blame but to understand how this came to be…how one captain 3 days later could have all the correct info
When the tragic loss of the family happened when they went off the cliff at Devonte Point, at Jaun Creek, in Mendocino County, the searchers also focused the search south for those still missing.
Some may have been found to the south, I can’t recall.
At least one was found north of the accident.
That’s why yesterday I had a feeling that they shouldn’t rule out searching to the North.
Im sorry. Do you mean when the psycho “mother” murdered a carload of people? That “loss of the family when they went off the cliff”? Dont sugarcoat it
Mental illness is real. Being unkind does not make you happy or a better person.
Well you just can’t be any more rude. What does her sexual preference have to do with what she did? She obviously did have some mental issues to do something like that. Take your immature, judgmental comments somewhere else. Nobody is going to respect your opinion that’s for sure.
Comparing narcissistic manipulation and abuse – in this case MURDER- to mental illness is dangerous, because the person with depression or even a psychotic break can potentially change. A narcissist never changes.
what the hell is your point! this isnt the place or the time to have a debate about non related news, its all tragic [edit]leave ur damn comments to urself if u cant be supportive! its disrespectful and cruel
well said!
When Wayne Oplinger went down in Doug Camille’s boat right in the middle of the channel several years ago, the tide was going out so everyone searched the jetties and the beaches northward. He was found in the bay, somewhere around King Salmon.
Go figure.
Everyone out there is doing their best to make it happen can’t fault them that the current changed direction, it’s extremely difficult to get all the facts right from the get go. I’ll be out there tomorrow to try and help with the search, because we will never find him sitting behind keyboards criticizing.
Sorry if that sounded like criticism. Blessings to everybody involved in the search. I was hoping to understand better from what I had read. I’m not a surfer or fisherman. I’m seeing comments that these Trindad currents change a lot and are unpredictable. That makes the reliance on dyes in the water seem …less reliable. But maybe there was a better reason for them that is not apparent. Best of luck and Thanks to all searchers! I’m home w/ covid or I’d be there too. Hunter is a good kid…
Conditions change daily
Back eddys off the main outside current
Exactly, eddie’s created by the point of land, the current, the winds, the swell, along with a big tide change, and inconsistent shoreline depths. That harbor must be kind of a whirlpool under certain conditions.
The initial search was not all to the south, from the start on Thursday evening and all day on Friday, shore-based crews were looking south and north. The Coast Guard was flying well north of Trinidad Head on Thursday evening and night, as well as all day long on Friday. Even after the piece of canoe was found north of Elk Head and the search focused north, we are still sending crews south. Every day, beaches from Moonstone to the North Jetty are being walked and glassed with binoculars. We’ve even had a local man in his private plane who flew on Friday and Saturday. Many volunteers have flown drones along inaccessible cliff faces and around near-shore rock formations.
Is that the bow section?
Look at the way the port forward rail is caved in with a perfect curve.
That’ seems unusual. Could there have been a collision? The two creases behind the curved section maybe suggest it as well, and the starboard forward rail is bent inward like it was maybe from pushing water after being struck from the other side?
I was wondering yesterday if he could have been collided with by another boat, one that was maybe on autopilot?
That sure looks like it is damage possibly consistent with a collision.
But I am no expert, it’s just an observation. And I certainly mean no disrespect.
I hope he is found, and by some miracle, he is also found alive.
A Scanoe would have has a squared off stern giving the boat a definite bow. However, those are usually plastic Colemans. Most canoes, especially fiberglass, are symmetrical. Only the placement of the seats and how many people are in the canoe determines the bow and stern. While your theory of a collision with another boat may still hold, uh, water, I don’t see enough evidence to say that was definitely the bow. There also looks to be the slider tracks that the seats attach to. While they are adjustable, they do seem to be in more of a stern position versus a bow position. A solo paddler in fowl weather, given their experience, may turn around in the boat, placing themselves at the bow, contrary to normal solo paddling from near stern. This allows the boat to tail behind the paddler like a windsock as he paddles into the wind. It can be quiet difficult paddling from the stern in rough conditions, into a wind or current.
I’m no expert, but I do know some, and have gotten myself through some gnarly circumstances.
I was wondering about that. I was just trying to orient port and starboard, and forward. Maybe that doesn’t apply to a canoe.
I wish I could help, but, I too, am still snowed in…
Keep you and yours safe.
I’d live to go play in the deep snow, but, I seem to have lost some of my bravado to age.
This boat is not designed for rough/swift water. Without float bags it will sink to just below water level when filled. Tragic.
Rock and wave impact.
Yeah , I get that, JR.
And it also seems like is wouldn’t be a perfect curve, it would be more of a “vee” if hit by another boat, unless it was a glancing blow.
But ,I agree, the waves and shore could easily do that to a canoe.
Stay safe out there, JR.
Yes rock impact when filled with water.
Unlikely. The surf zone on those beaches is mostly rock. The wind the last few days has been from the nw/ne and strait into that shoreline, waves have been 7-10ft. Plenty of power to smash that canoe up as it washed to shore. I’ve been out in Trinidad the last couple of days. The harbour side is calm and trinidad head shields the wind and swell, but the otherside going towards seawood and patricks point is still pretty rough.
Does anyone know if he wearing a life jacket?
Praying that they find this young man. My heart hurts for his family & friends.
There is still hope and I pray for a positive outcome. I can say that over the past 10 years I have seen too many young folks chasing crab with small dings, kayaks and canoes with no life vests and only wet suits. the currents outside prisoner rock and the uscg bouy are too strong for many. Even a 5hp motor is too little for that current, especially in a plus or neg tide.
Folks I implore you all to always wear your vest, carry flares and shooting flares in ziplock bags, and always have a waterproof vhf with channel 9 and 16 on scan or memory.
please let’s pray for his safe return and let’s all educate this generation on the power of the ocean.
I have a Coleman plastic Scanoe from the 80’s that lost it’s cover a few years ago. UV radiation from the sun made the bottom brittle. It’s now a planter. I pray that they find Hunter alive on a cove nearby.
Nautical map for anyone wanting more perspective. The park woods north of Elk’s Head need to be searched by someone who knows then well, not for amateurs, it is extremely dense and you can get lost very easy. Unfortunately I am snowed in.
http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html?title=TRINIDAD+HARBOR+boating+app#14/41.0511/-124.1590
Hopefully they find this man! To his family, stay strong and keep every hope! Please to anyone following this story, never take a canoe into the ocean. They are so unstable and the water temperature is almost impossible to swim in.
My heart hurts for this young man’s parents. I sure hope he is found soon.
This is a really sad situation. Best wishes to his family. He was a well loved person at Arcata high, and will be missed by our family. No good outcomes unfortunately. It’s a chilling end to this year.
I hope we find a cold dehydrated kid huddled on the beach soon. An aside to the story, canoes are one of the most unstable watercraft available. They seem simple enough hop in and go, beware. They are nothing like kayaks stability wise. Taking one into rough water of any sort is a dangerous proposition.
I hope that he’s OK. I don’t want to think about what his family must be going through. Hopefully he’s just stranded somewhere and will be found, spend a day or two in the hospital getting checked out and return home.
Maybe with the salmon running and a lot of seals hunting schools of salmon chances of great white being near the mouth seem to be a high end possibility. Hopefully I’m wrong. Hunter,God bless !!
im reading these comments and i dont understand how some can make this about anything other then hope and support. my heart goes out to this young man and his loved ones im gonna take time to say my prayers for them and only hope for the best possible outcome. im so sorry this is hapoened now for the people who cant do something simmilar need not comment!