PORTLAND, Maine – Coast Guard crews are searching along the coastline from Portsmouth, NH to Kittery, Maine, for an overdue kayaker tonight.
The kayaker, Hamilton Wood, 61, has a yellow kayak and is wearing a life jacket and wet suit.
The kayaker was last heard from around 3 p.m., today when he called his wife and Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor to notify them he was leaving the Isle of Shoals area and returning to Odiorne Point, NH.
A 47-foot boat crew from Station Portsmouth Harbor, a Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., and the New Castle Fire Department are on scene searching. The Coast Guard Cutter Reliance is en route and expected to arrive on scene around 1 a.m.
The on scene weather is 20-30 knot winds with 4-6 foot seas. The water temperature is 37 degrees.
“With the help of the New Castle Fire Department, Coast Guard crews are scouring the area in hopes of finding the kayaker safe,” said Lt. j.g. Adrian Harris, the command duty officer at the First Coast Guard District command center in Boston.
